ERIC Number: EJ1035444
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2014
Pages: 16
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0260-2938
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Available Date: N/A
Improving Higher Education Practice through Student Evaluation Systems: Is the Student Voice Being Heard?
Blair, Erik; Valdez Noel, Keisha
Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education, v39 n7 p879-894 2014
Many higher education institutions use student evaluation systems as a way of highlighting course and lecturer strengths and areas for improvement. Globally, the student voice has been increasing in volume, and capitalising on student feedback has been proposed as a means to benefit teacher professional development. This paper examines the student evaluations at a university in Trinidad and Tobago in an effort to determine whether the student voice is being heard. The research focused on students' responses to the question, "How do you think this course could be improved?" Student evaluations were gathered from five purposefully selected courses taught at the university during 2011-2012 and then again one year later, in 2012-2013. This allowed for an analysis of the selected courses. Whilst the literature suggested that student evaluation systems are a valuable aid to lecturer improvement, this research found little evidence that these evaluations actually led to any real significant changes in lecturers' practice.
Descriptors: Higher Education, Educational Improvement, Student Evaluation, Student Reaction, Student Evaluation of Teacher Performance, Course Evaluation, Instructional Improvement, Instructional Effectiveness, Lecture Method, Teacher Student Relationship, Feedback (Response), Teacher Effectiveness, Foreign Countries, College Students, Content Analysis
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - General
Education Level: Higher Education; Postsecondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Trinidad and Tobago
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Author Affiliations: N/A