There is no doubt that student evaluation of teaching divides opinion. There is however consensus about one area; the feedback loop remains stubbornly difficult to close. Why this is the case is multi-faceted but, I think, can begin to be resolved by concentrating on a few areas: relationships, listening, and ownership.
“It’s just a tick box exercise” is a phrase uttered by both students and academics when they discuss module evaluations. Students rarely can identify anything that has happened because of their feedback, and response rates are poor. Academics often say that the surveys don’t ask the right questions and are completed too late in the cycle to impact those students who have completed them.
Some academics also question their role in the process, it is often passive; they have no ownership over the questions asked and the lack of any dialogue does little to develop staff and student relationships – where is there actually the opportunity to talk?
Debbie McVitty wrote that, done properly, feedback is the breakfast of champions, helping to sharpen our thinking and moderate our perspective, but that the module evaluation process in many institutions is flawed – we ask questions but don’t listen and act upon the responses. This is why we have been reviewing the process at the University of Northampton.
