Students as partners in learning and teaching: Assessing the effectiveness of student evaluation of teaching

Students engagement in learning and teaching is necessary to enhance academic practices which provide mechanisms to support the development and enhancement of learners and teachers’ partnerships. In the rapidly changing world, Student Evaluation of Teaching (SET) could provide an opportunity to co-produce and develop effective teaching and learning strategies for sustainable education in universities. Most higher education providers in the UK have adopted SET, as it measures the effectiveness of teaching and learning and provides a guide for changes in the course materials, methods of delivery and assessment procedures, to enhance students experience and engagement. However, poorly designed questionnaires and the inability to reflect students’ perceptions and expectations in the SET fail to fulfill the real purpose. This action research used a revised SET questionnaire based on the discussions with the lecturers and the students within a university setting to understand their expectations and engagement in completing the questionnaires. Although the consensus was to use SET to evaluate and improve teaching and learning to enhance the quality of the course, the students raised concerns about the feedback loop and implementation of the feedback received through SET. This was believed to be the barrier in motivating students to fully participate in the process of evaluation. The open and transparent discussions with students about the evaluation process and the importance of students as partners in learning and teaching and including SET as part of the lesson plan allowed teachers to promote engagement of students in this evaluation process.