The great advantage of Minute Papers is that they provide manageable amounts of
timely and useful feedback for a minimal investment of time and energy. By asking students
what they see as the most significant things they are learning, and what their major questions are,
faculty can quickly check how well those students are learning what they are teaching. That
feedback can help teachers decide whether any mid-course corrections or changes are needed and,
if so, what kinds of instructional adjustments to make. Getting the instructor’s feedback on their
Minute Papers helps students learn how experts in a given discipline distinguish the major points
from the details. The Minute Paper also ensures that students’ questions will be raised, and in
many cases answered, in time to facilitate further learning.
Despite its simplicity, the Minute Paper assess more than mere recall. To select the most
important or significant information, learners must first evaluate what they recall. Then, to come
up with a question, students must self-assess—asking themselves how well they understand what
they have just heard or studied.