Evaluating teaching

At Monash University, regular student evaluation of teaching occurs at the conclusion of each teaching period, with the use of SETU (Student Evaluation of Teaching and Units).

This is a type of student evaluation instrument that provides summative data and is a way we hear from students about their experience of learning within a unit. Their responses provide the University with a broad indicator of students' satisfaction with teaching and the student learning journey. This can then be used by faculty and unit leadership for future planning in the unit, and by individual educators in application for promotion.

However, the SETU instrument is not the only way to gather information about the student experience and work towards improved learning outcomes for your cohort.

Opportunities during the teaching period can also be created to collect student feedback. Especially, feedback systems and cycles that are deliberate and are planned during the design of the unit to maximise their value can provide greater insight than ad-hoc and inconsistent requests of students to ‘check in’ or give feedback.

The data from student evaluations during the teaching period can enable educators to make changes to content design and delivery within the same teaching period. This gives them the opportunity to monitor the value and impact of their teaching practice more effectively, and be proactive in responding to the needs of their students in real time.

This type of responsive evaluation may also allow educators to address student issues during the teaching period before students evaluate the unit formally through SETU.

Recommendations View

	Don’t wait until the end of the semester to get feedback Gathering feedback during the teaching period is a great way to make sure you are addressing issues during the semester and being responsive to your students’ needs. Use the Feed Forward flux poll or create your own feedback tool to understand more about your students’ learning experiences.
	Include the students as active participants in the feedback process This means informing your students of the purpose of any feedback and evaluation activities you undertake in your unit so they understand their value. It also includes talking to your students about the changes you have made based on their feedback (or the feedback of a previous cohort). You can communicate this verbally (in class time), and in writing (on the Moodle site or in the unit handbook). Making it apparent that you welcome and appreciate constructive feedback, and providing examples of actionable comments can help students to understand how to use their SETU responses most effectively. Giving them a few minutes to give feedback during a workshop can also improve completion rates so that your data is more representative.
	Review your SETUs at the end of every semester and implement changes before the next iteration SETU feedback can provide valuable insights into the strengths and areas for improvement in a unit. By reviewing your feedback objectively and looking for any patterns or themes that come up in comments, you can be more responsive to your students in the following semester. However, the data is most valuable when it informs future actions. Often, by the time it comes to deliver a unit again, the previous feedback has been put aside or dismissed. When you review SETU data, make an action plan for the next iteration and either make the changes while it’s front of mind. Alternatively, put the plan in the same place as the materials for next time, so that you will see and act on them in preparation for the upcoming teaching period.
	Use SETU and evaluation strategies during the teaching period together It can always feel like a big step to making significant changes to your unit, or the way you approach things. When you implement changes for a unit based on SETU, you can firstly inform students of the changes you have made and why (in response to student feedback), but then you can schedule key feedback collection points during the teaching period that specifically gather student sentiments and experiences related to the new approach. If they are positive, you know that this has been successful. If they are mixed, or negative, you can unpack the feedback with students to find out what went wrong and how to improve it. Students are less likely to provide poor feedback in SETU if they have engaged in productive and meaningful conversations about adjusting to feedback during the teaching period.
	Choose an appropriate technology for gathering feedback There are a lot of different tools you can use to get feedback. Polls, including the FeedForward Bento box, Google Forms, and Moodle Feedback are just some of the tools you can use. Find out more about these tools in the ‘How To’ section.

Feedback in action

Make your way through Incorporating Student Feedback and Enhancing Student Experience to learn how Monash University academics have used student feedback to amplify students’ voices and enhance their learning experience - these case studies demonstrate how actionable feedback can transform teaching and create a more responsive learning environment.

Education Performance Standards Framework

You can use the tabs on the left-hand side menu to navigate between the sections or click on the links below:
1. The How-to section provides you with instructions and/or strategies to implement in your teaching.
2. The Supporting your students section provides you with key strategies for creating a good learning experience and a list of resources to share.
3. The Related resources section provides you with additional resources.
Tobin, T. J., Mandernach, B. J., & Taylor, A. H. (2015). Evaluating online teaching: Implementing best Practices. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass (John Wiley & Sons).
NTEU (2022). Student Evaluation. http://www.nteu.org.au/policy/learning_teaching/student_evaluation

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Three questions for evaluation of practice in research supervision

Be inspired by Dr. Helen Rawson who developed her own feedback mechanism to assess the effectiveness of student supervision practice.

Formative evaluation using ‘Feed Forward’

Learn more about using Feed Forward to gain immediate feedback from your students in this MEA module.

The impacts of student evaluation on teaching in higher learning

This article by Jonas Flodén investigates teachers' perceptions of student feedback and how it affects their teaching choices.

How to improve your teaching using students feedback

This Times Higher Education article looks at the opportunities educators have to gain ‘real-time’ feedback from students through the semester in order to improve their teaching practice.

Use FLUX polling

Flux is an effective and flexible polling tool that can be used in many ways within the classroom including gaining valuable insights from formative student feedback.

Use Google Suite

Learn more about using Google Suite to support learning through activities as well as using Google forms as a way of gathering feedback from your students.

The Education Performance Standards identify the expectations of education practice at Monash – See the Education Performance Standards for more details.
Impact on student learning				Impact on educational knowledge		Impact on educational environment
Effective teaching and learning	Responsive program design	Student- centred orientation	Professional learning engagement	Pedagogical content knowledge	Education research performance	Education innovation	Education leadership
✓		✓	✓			✓
You could address marking and grading across these Practice Elements by providing evidence of how you: Reflected on and responded to (SETU) feedback Developed formative feedback tools for your students Responded to formative student feedback within the semester

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