What students think of the surveys
Research at this and other universities has shown that students welcome the opportunity to give feedback on units and teaching. It is important however, that they are given some evidence that their feedback is being considered seriously by staff. If the timing of surveys does not allow a response to the students giving the feedback, the next class may still be appreciative of information on changes made as a result of what previous students have said. The papers below consider this issue in greater detail.
In semester two 1995, a small survey was carried out at Murdoch in response to concerns that students might be being oversurveyed. Students in a random sample of 30 units which were being mandatorily surveyed that semester, were asked to respond 'yes' or 'no' to three questions. The results (given below) were very positive, however students' comments indicated that they had no way of knowing what use staff made of the information and had some concerns on this issue.
Students' attitudes towards completing student surveys of teaching and units.
n=995
| |
Yes |
No |
Missing |
Do you take these surveys seriously? |
90% |
8% |
2% |
Are you happy with the frequency of the surveys? |
82% |
16%* |
2% |
Do you want the surveys to continue? |
88% |
8% |
4% |
* Some students indicated that they would like the surveys to be more frequent.
For further information on this survey and on responding to students' feedback, see -
- Ballantyne, Christina (1998). Improving
university teaching: Responding to feedback from students. Paper presented
at Adult Learning Cultures: Challenges and Choices, Wellington Polytechnic,
New Zealand, February 1998. Published in Zepke, N., Knight, M., Leach, L.
and Viskovice, A. (1999) Adult Learning Cultures: Challenges and Choices
in times of change. Ch. 11, p155-165, Wellington, WP Press.
Student Surveys Index
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