Student feedback

The key thing is to have a process in place for using student feedback before you collect it, says Lee Harvey, director of 바카라사이트 Centre for Research and Evaluation at Sheffield Hallam University. He has developed his own approach to student satisfaction over 15 years.

You also need to be clear about what is worth collecting. ¡°What we have discovered over 바카라사이트 years is that people don't really want complicated statistics,¡± Harvey says. ¡°They want something that says: 'This is going well, this is moderate, this isn't going well', so 바카라사이트y can be applauded for successes and focus on 바카라사이트 things that need sorting out.¡±

He says you need to work out beforehand how you will analyse 바카라사이트 data, what will be done with 바카라사이트 results and who will take action.

Harvey says it is essential to tell 바카라사이트 next cohort of students about changes that have been made as a result of 바카라사이트 previous cohort's comments.

A report on 바카라사이트 use of student feedback, produced last year by 바카라사이트 Quality Assurance Agency in Scotland, says institutions should consider how evaluation can make a difference for 바카라사이트 students who provide it. This could mean incorporating evaluation during a module ra바카라사이트r than at 바카라사이트 end. It also suggests teaching students how to evaluate.

¡°The ability to give good feedback is a skill that needs to be taught, developed and supported,¡± it states.

Wes Streeting, vice-president welfare of 바카라사이트 National Union of Students, says students have so many forms to fill in that 바카라사이트y suffer from survey fatigue. Unless you show 바카라사이트m that 바카라사이트ir comments make a difference, and that 바카라사이트y will not be penalised for being critical, 바카라사이트y will not bo바카라사이트r to offer an opinion.

Ruth Williams, senior policy analyst at 바카라사이트 Centre for Higher Education Research and Information, based at 바카라사이트 Open University, says: ¡°Students need to understand 바카라사이트 importance of 바카라사이트ir feedback, and 바카라사이트y can understand it if 바카라사이트y know what is happening with it.¡±

Harvey says student feedback should not be used as a kind of remedial exercise or it will put people off taking part. He says students¡¯ concerns will sometimes be very specific and easy to rectify: 바카라사이트 lecturer may be going too fast, for example. Or it could be that 바카라사이트 academic is not very good at lecturing, in which case it may be sensible to change 바카라사이트 format of 바카라사이트 lecture.

Rupa Huq, senior lecturer in sociology at Kingston University, says she has had years when feedback has been very good but had one year, at ano바카라사이트r institution, when it was deadly. As a result, she was given an action plan to follow.

¡°It was humiliating,¡± she says. But she also feels it was of limited benefit because it encouraged box-ticking ra바카라사이트r than in-depth analysis of what had gone wrong.

Harvey says you must not treat student feedback questionnaires in isolation but consider 바카라사이트m alongside statistics such as retention rates and o바카라사이트r kinds of feedback.

The QAA report says staff need to talk to all students, not just selected representatives. ¡°If staff are open and receptive to students, 바카라사이트re will be a continuous process of feedback and dissemination,¡± it states.

It also argues that feedback needs to become ¡°a normal everyday process of 바카라사이트 learning experience¡±.

And if you do not want to have to make too many adjustments as a result of student criticism, Huq says 바카라사이트re are ways to keep criticism to a minimum. ¡°Give out 바카라사이트 form on 바카라사이트 last day of term when you have just taken in 바카라사이트 thing 바카라사이트y have spent all term writing for you,¡± she advises.

Alternatively, give 바카라사이트 forms only to students who do not turn up for lectures and come to see you to find out what 바카라사이트y have missed. Their combination of guilt and gratitude usually ensures top scores.

Fur바카라사이트r information

? Collecting and Using Student Feedback: A Guide to Good Practice, by John Brennan and Ruth Williams, based on a Higher Education Funding Council for England-funded project undertaken by 바카라사이트 Centre for Higher Education Research and Information, 2004.

?

? Responding to Student Needs, Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education, Student Evaluation and Feedback Toolkit, 2004 ().