Engaging students with SELT

Academics can influence SELT response rates because they are the first point of contact with students at the university. When academics actively promote and discuss SELT with students, response rates are generally higher than when little or no attention is paid to the survey.

Higher response rates to SELT increase the likelihood of getting more accurate feedback and may lessen the possibility of non-response bias.

“Student perceptions of the evaluation system are important. On average, students view the process of evaluation of teaching positively (Ahmadi, Helms, and Raiszadeh 2001; Heine and Maddox 2009; Kite, Subedi, and Bryant-Lees 2015). The majority of students perceive themselves, as well as other students, to be fair and honest when completing an evaluation, putting in sufficient effort. In addition, they perceive course evaluations overall as an effective means of assessing instructor performance (Marlin 1987).”

Lauren McClain, Angelika Gulbis & Donald Hays (2018) Honesty on student evaluations of teaching: effectiveness, purpose, and timing matter!, Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education.

What you can do

Beyond highlighting the impact of students’ feedback about their learning experience, it is important to consider the timing and address any lingering misconceptions early in the process. Here are some tips on what you can say before, during, and after the survey period.

Before the survey

Reserve some time in-class to remind students about the upcoming survey and why it is important to participate.
- Students noted that their unfamiliarity with the student evaluation of teaching (SET) process and how the results were used to enhance teaching and course content posed a challenge to completing the SET surveys (Cone et al. 2018; Hoel and Dahl2019; Gupta et al. 2020; Stein et al. 2021).

Introduce SELT survey to students 4 weeks before the exam and ensure students that the survey is short and won’t take them more than 5 minutes to complete.
- (Hoel and Dahl (2019) surveyed 689 Norwegian higher education students and found that 30% chose not to participate if the survey was estimated to take longer than five minutes to complete.) Make sure they know that they can access the survey on their mobile devices.

Let students know that their honest feedback is important to you and how you use feedback to improve your course delivery and teaching.

Show students how to make meaningful and constructive comments about the learning and teaching experience. Talk about the opportunities and the perils of giving anonymous feedback. Give an example of useful feedback you have received in the past, and how the course or your teaching benefited in response.

Explain to students where their responses go and what happens to their feedback. Students are more likely to complete SELT if they know how their responses are used and that their feedback will be acted upon.

Confirm that students’ responses are acted upon to improve teaching: Some students choose not to participate in SELT processes, partly due to the belief that their input won’t lead to meaningful changes.
- El Hassan (2009) found in a survey of 605 Lebanese students that only 50% believed their feedback would result in improvements. Similarly, Kite, Subadi, and Bryant-Lees (2015)’s study of 597 students from 20 U.S. higher education institutions revealed that around 60% of students doubted their feedback would even be read. These insights shed light on why students engage with SET surveys and why others may not prioritise offering constructive feedback.

Assure students that the survey is confidential and that help is available should they need it.

While instructions to complete the survey are included in the system email they receive, it can still be helpful to provide a quick tutorial in class (which can also be a fun opportunity to provide examples, answer SELT-related questions or even do a “practice” survey together to help familiarise, understand, and be truthful and confident in responding to the survey).

Create periodic announcements in the LMS to remind students of the SELT due date and remind students during class time.

Allocate time for students to complete the survey in class. This means students won’t have to allocate time outside class hours to complete the survey.

After the survey

Acknowledge that student feedback has been received and is being looked at. Reiterate that responses are confidential and that their feedback is an important part of co-designing the course.

Closing the feedback loop is crucial to ensuring that students stay engaged in the process. Students need to know that their feedback is valuable, and that there are actions being taken in response to their concerns. This is essential in building a culture of trust.

Share results in class whenever possible and discuss potential strategies to improve. Explicitly implement a common/top student suggestion.

Actively create opportunities outside of SELT to listen to what students think of the course and your teaching. It could be through regular discussions with a select group of students or by incorporating feedback in assignments.

Be robust in monitoring and identifying themes and patterns in the responses, look for opportunities even in the not so positive feedback. When considering student evaluations, CAULLT’s Good Practice Guide suggests tracking and comparing quantitative results against your teaching goals and objectives. Making a list of actionable points turns SELT into an empowering tool, one that lets you decide what you can do with the results.

Engage in a regular program of teaching observation – this helps contextualise student feedback and is especially helpful to those who are just starting their teaching career.

Know that there is help when you need it. ANU has information to support staff wellbeing at its Health and Wellbeing Share Point site where staff can access Mental Health Resources and the ANU Employee Assistance Program, among others.

Sound out with trusted friends and colleagues. It’s good to remember that everyone, including highly successful academics, has to navigate student feedback in their career. Talking about results with people who share the same experience can help sift through what is important and what is just background noise.

Let’s talk about SELT

Suggestions on engaging in conversation with students about SELT at any step of the survey journey.

Be explicit

By explicitly asking students to provide feedback to SELT you are making it clear that you want feedback. It might also be good to be explicit about things you are really interested in hearing about – something you tried recently, ideas you are considering.

It’s not meant to be personal

Let students know that you want to hear about their experiences and ideas for improvements, but that SELT isn’t the place for personal comments or attacks. You are not here to have your hair style assessed – positively or negatively – comments should relate to teaching and learning.

Aim for transparency

Rather than going for a heart-to-heart talk about SELT that not everyone will be comfortable in doing, focus on how talking about evaluations is about transparency. A culture of knowledge sharing where students experience is central supports institutional transparency and accountability.

Honesty is the best policy

Try to be honest about how you feel about SELT rather than just letting it be the elephant in the room. If SELT makes you uncomfortable, or you have had negative experiences in the past – let your students know that you are human, you are doing your best, and that you are always trying to improve their experience of your classes and teaching. If you can show trust and honesty to them, they are more likely to respect you and reciprocate the trust you show to them.

Presume positive intentions

While students may not always be respectful or positive in their feedback, it’s important to not be automatically dismissive (or adversarial) of their responses. Students are the best judge of their learning experience, but how they respond to teaching evaluations will always be affected by a variety of factors outside of the classroom. Manage expectations accordingly.

Use collaborative language

Saying “what might we” instead of “what would you” when opening discussions about SELT for example, shows that the survey is a collaborative exercise that will be useful for both you and your students.