How can student satisfaction evaluations improve Higher Education?

What I am seeing in the market at the moment is a huge increase of focus on the 'customer experience'. Universities are seeking skills to help them address this area and improve the student experience. Looking at the interim appointments I have made in the last 3 months, approx 60% have had a focus on improving 'customer experience' in some way. Its true that student satisfaction is driving change among universities.

There are multiple obvious benefits to a well-structured quantitative survey, however those non-measurable qualitative responses in a comments section regularly provide invaluable insights. Engaging the student populace by showing genuine interest and action on feedback will facilitate that. Through examples or ideas, these unbound responses can change programs completely.

From a service point of view, education is a two-way conversation between the learners and the institution. To genuinely meet the needs and expectations of students and improve curriculum quality and delivery, institutions must deliberately listen and collect satisfaction feedback, which, if analysed thoroughly and carried forward, could improve their processes, deliverables and overall performance. This is one of the ways to enhance the student experience. The satisfaction evaluation, as we know it, also plays an important role when ranking the institution on the global stage.

Student satisfaction evaluation can be both subjective and objective. Each student may experience the same class differently and it is important to note why this is the case. For example, in an economics class if non-Chinese students are learning about the Chinese Economy or in finance, if non-Arabs are learning about the Islamic finance in the Middle East, their learning may differ a great deal but it is important to include them in discussions and debates allowing for all involved to understand each others perspectives. If this is not encouraged, often the satisfaction (in terms of learning) can vary where some might feel completely disconnected with the topic due to a lack of historical knowledge around the field / subject.

Student satisfaction evaluations are essential for enhancing higher education. They offer valuable feedback to educators, administrators, and policymakers, highlighting strengths, weaknesses, and areas for improvement. These evaluations also reward effective teaching practices, driving educators to enhance their skills. By valuing student opinions, evaluations boost engagement, retention, and success. They foster an environment that prioritizes student satisfaction and promotes educational excellence. Overall, student satisfaction evaluations play a crucial role in improving the quality of higher education by providing actionable insights and empowering students.

Genuine appreciation and action. Period. Students have a 1,000 other commitments and issues to deal with... asking them to voluntarily contribute to program enhancement that may/may not impact them, or even future students? Hardly a recipe for success. Truly engaging and bringing to student reps and committees the actions being taken in the feedback will mobilize the cohort and establish a collaborative culture with students.

With the new AI tools, it is extremely difficult to know what is original in an assignment or what is generative ai. As such, now it is time to change the paradigms. Lets focus significantly more from knowledge based evaluation to skills based evaluation. We need more than before people who are capable than knowledgeable people.

Return rates is a tricky one with student evaluations. Historically I've seen poor return rates, down to lower than 10% even. How does one use those data to draw meaningful conclusions? You can tie final course evaluations to access to final assignments, essentially "forcing" students to participate before they can complete the course, but what impact does that have in their responses? In my opinion, if an instructor recognizes, appreciates, and forms a relationships with their students throughout a course, these students are more likely to want to respond to evaluations as they can see how their opinion matters. I also believe multiple points of evaluation are important, don't wait until the end of the course to ask for feedback.

Take all feedback with an open mind. There will constructive feedback which sets out how teaching can be improved or what would be more useful for students' learning, and there will unhelpful comments which in their extreme, may be intended to hurt. Understand that not everyone will take part in giving genuine feedback and reflect upon the constructive feedback given that may have basis for what was delivered in the course. Be open about receiving feedback because it also demonstrates to students that we are also learning to better all the time.

In my experience, student bias affects the reliability of the cumulative feedback calculated for the teacher. Even a necessary reprimanding, leads to affecting the final measures of a teachers' feedback. Though challenging, if the stakeholders are capable enough to identify the bias, it shouldn't affect how they perceive the quality of teaching. At the same time, the student satisfaction evaluation is a very useful means to identify the suitability and exceptional efforts of the teacher which is otherwise challenging to assess.

First, a culture where student evaluations will be genuinely considered and acted upon is a must. Building that culture of collaboration positions students are more than mere customers. Once that is achieved, the means 'almost' don't matter; focus groups, surveys, interviews, quantitative/qualitative... the key is that students are free to express themselves and that the academic and administrative teams will accept this feedback and be ready to act on it. Students also understand change isn't always possible or immediate, but doing what we can, when we can, is all that is asked.

There is a wealth of information showing how biased evaluations can be, particularly for faculty of color & women. Offering candy or cookies for students just prior to them completing their evaluations can have a significant impact on their reported scores. That said, student evals can be extremely helpful when taken in context to see trends in teaching & ways to improve the course for the next semester. Most evals offer opportunity for open ended responses which typically contain the most helpful info—I always make sure to inform students of this near the end of the semester & reiterate how I use these responses. It helps to make sure to build an environment through the semester that shows students that you care about their viewpoints.

Effectively using student satisfaction evaluations in Higher Education involves setting clear objectives, employing rigorous methodologies, and conducting timely evaluations. Encouraging participation, analyzing data comprehensively, and translating insights into actionable improvements are crucial.

Today, educators should be able to implement a comprehensive and regular feedback system allows institutions to identify strengths and areas for improvement. It's essential to design surveys that encompass various aspects of the educational experience, including teaching quality, course materials, and support services. Analysing the feedback collected in a timely manner enables institutions to make informed adjustments to curriculum, teaching methodologies, and campus resources. Additionally, promoting transparency about the changes made based on student feedback fosters a sense of partnership between students and the institution, ultimately contributing to a more responsive and student-centred higher education environment.

Set the objective, share the objective (often a skipped step!), design, implement, and revisit. Do the metric do more than establish KPI #s? Do they even measure these accurately? Does it reflect all perspectives? Curriculum updating, learning outcomes, student engagement, teaching effectiveness, etc.? If it's not measuring what you want, it's worthless. It must be reviewed every cycle and tweaked in perpetuity. This includes format, timing, length... and actively seeking 'off the books' feedback that students might be unwilling to share officially, even if anonymous.

One of the keys to improving student satisfaction survey is to be transparent about the results of their feedback and the action plans triggered by them. Accountability is central for the students to feel their voices are heard, increasing engagement not only during surveys but also during other activities throughout the academic year.

Holistically addressing student experiences, engaging students in the process, and implementing action-oriented responses based on findings are key to driving meaningful improvements in Higher Education assessments.

Listening with an open mind and being ready to act. It's as simple as that. Student feedback exercises can't be treated as simple 'boxes to check' or mere means of hitting KPIs. They need to be designed to benefit all stakeholders; academics, administrators, and students. Outside the box thinking is what we ask of our youngest and brightest; we must invite them to share, and then implement, their ideas in a safe and supportive environment. Conversely, sharing the limitations with students on what is achievable will garner credibility and buy-in from them. As soon as students see the institution as a partner and not a provider, the potential of the relationship becomes unbounded.

Leveraging student satisfaction evaluations in Higher Education involves turning feedback into actionable insights, guiding continuous improvement initiatives, and using evidence-based decision-making. Implementing changes based on evaluations enhances student engagement and retention, optimizes resource allocation, and informs policy development while bolstering institutional reputation and fostering long-term strategic planning aligned with student needs.

I think it is important to highlight the evidence showing biases against female educators, educators of color, and educators with an accent in student satisfaction surveys. Students tend to give more favorable evaluations to “nice” teachers, and these teachers aren’t always more effective educators. Students have to be trained to provide useful feedback; however, this is a challenging task for students who may have never had to give actionable feedback to others before. This speaks to the importance of ensuring that the satisfaction survey provides specific questions (questions that provide evidence of the instructor’s effectiveness) for students to answer.

My team is reviewing course data to determine what areas of the course need to be reviewed/renewed/revised as they go through the course update process. The data we are collecting are as broad as general student satisfaction down to item analyses on assessments. What if we could tie these assessment data to student satisfaction? What if we notice a course's success rate tends to drop off in the fifth week of class, for example, can we tie that to student evaluations to see if there were a particular point in the course they felt especially difficult or problematic? This would require some carefully crafted questions but I believe you can tie student evaluation data to assessment/course data to tell a bigger part of the story.

Course evaluations, in my experience, have been positive. I find that providing individualized feedback, actively listening, fostering a diverse environment, and engaging in discussions regularly with how students perceive their instructors in a positive light. Giving feedback to students doesn't always have to be praise - we are instructors and should help them grow. Additionally, students tend to respond better to corrections when instructors provide explanations.