Abstract
Student feedback can be used to enable institutions to achieve the best possible outcomes for students through informing changes which enhance the quality of teaching and learning. Following the introduction of an online survey platform to gather student feedback at a top-performing UK university, anecdotal concerns raised by academics suggested students were being more critical. This exploratory study investigated the effects of switching from a paper to an online survey by comparing the open-ended responses between the two methods of collection. The main contribution of this study is the development of an analytical framework which can be used by other institutions to evaluate student comments, in order to understand and improve the student experience. Three key findings in this study were uncovered. Firstly, the quality of student feedback is not undermined by a switch to a more efficient online collection. Secondly, student comments via both methods of collection predominantly continue to focus on fulfilling basic needs, such as study resources. Finally, a small number of comments online revealed a lack of behavioural constraint and were considered to be inappropriate. These findings have important policy implications for the global higher education sector, highlighting the need for students to be given guidance on providing constructive feedback.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 476-488 |
| Number of pages | 13 |
| Journal | Assessment and Evaluation in Higher Education |
| Volume | 44 |
| Issue number | 3 |
| Early online date | 30 Oct 2018 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 3 Apr 2019 |
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Bibliographical note
This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis inAssessment and Evaluation in Higher Education on 30/10/2018, available
online: http://www.tandfonline.com/10.1080/02602938.2018.1521371
Copyright © and Moral Rights are retained by the author(s) and/ or other copyright owners. A copy can be downloaded for personal non-commercial research or study, without prior permission or charge. This item cannot be reproduced or quoted extensively from without first obtaining permission in writing from the copyright holder(s). The content must not be changed in any way or sold commercially in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders.
Keywords
- higher education
- online disinhibition
- social media
- student surveys
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Education
Cite this
Is students' qualitative feedback changing, now it is online? / Gakhal, Sandeep; Wilson, Caroline.
In: Assessment and Evaluation in Higher Education, Vol. 44, No. 3, 03.04.2019, p. 476-488.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article
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TY - JOUR
T1 - Is students' qualitative feedback changing, now it is online?
AU - Gakhal, Sandeep
AU - Wilson, Caroline
N1 - This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in Assessment and Evaluation in Higher Education on 30/10/2018, available online: http://www.tandfonline.com/10.1080/02602938.2018.1521371 Copyright © and Moral Rights are retained by the author(s) and/ or other copyright owners. A copy can be downloaded for personal non-commercial research or study, without prior permission or charge. This item cannot be reproduced or quoted extensively from without first obtaining permission in writing from the copyright holder(s). The content must not be changed in any way or sold commercially in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders.
PY - 2019/4/3
Y1 - 2019/4/3
N2 - Student feedback can be used to enable institutions to achieve the best possible outcomes for students through informing changes which enhance the quality of teaching and learning. Following the introduction of an online survey platform to gather student feedback at a top-performing UK university, anecdotal concerns raised by academics suggested students were being more critical. This exploratory study investigated the effects of switching from a paper to an online survey by comparing the open-ended responses between the two methods of collection. The main contribution of this study is the development of an analytical framework which can be used by other institutions to evaluate student comments, in order to understand and improve the student experience. Three key findings in this study were uncovered. Firstly, the quality of student feedback is not undermined by a switch to a more efficient online collection. Secondly, student comments via both methods of collection predominantly continue to focus on fulfilling basic needs, such as study resources. Finally, a small number of comments online revealed a lack of behavioural constraint and were considered to be inappropriate. These findings have important policy implications for the global higher education sector, highlighting the need for students to be given guidance on providing constructive feedback.
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KW - higher education
KW - online disinhibition
KW - social media
KW - student surveys
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U2 - 10.1080/02602938.2018.1521371
DO - 10.1080/02602938.2018.1521371
M3 - Article
VL - 44
SP - 476
EP - 488
JO - Assessment and Evaluation in Higher Education
JF - Assessment and Evaluation in Higher Education
SN - 0260-2938
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