Surveys of Student Opinion of Teaching
Policy Document

Register of Surveys

Student feedback on teaching activities is regarded as a positive instrument which can be used by Faculty to help individuals in refining and improving both how and what, we teach. This feedback is gathered in order to give a voice to students on their opinions of our teaching while providing staff with constructive feedback.

Student feedback should be invited on a range of aspects of teaching ranging from facilities, materials and equipment through to style and delivery and on into actual content. As the same time, student feedback is just one of the many factors which influence our teaching activities and the teaching activity should never be driven entirely by student feedback nor should the significance of student feedback be over-emphasised.

The following set of points summarise the policy:

1.From the outset it must be stressed that all academic staff should have an interest to receive accurate student feedback, and that academic staff should endeavour, where possible, to achieve such feedback.

2.The results and outcomes from surveys of student opinion of teaching, whether qualitative or quantitative, will remain confidential to the Lecturer concerned but may, if the Lecturer so wishes, be shared in confidence with the Head of School. One reason for doing this might be to request assistance in some aspect of staff development or the development or improvement of teaching practices.

3.In order not to over-survey students and dilute the efficacy of their feedback, while at the same time gaining enough feedback to be useful, each group of students (programme/year) will be surveyed for feedback on a given module once per semester but no individual Lecturer should be requested to conduct a survey in more than one module s/he is responsible for in any single calendar year.

4.The set of modules selected for surveys of student opinion will be selected by the Head of School in consultation with the programme board chairpersons.

5.Since the aim of this exercise is to elicit student feedback so as to maintain and enhance excellence in teaching, each survey needs to be tailored to each individual module. Given this, the selection of questions to be included in the survey should be selected by the Lecturer concerned

6.An historical register of the set of modules for which student opinions are gathered, will be maintained and made available online, along with this policy document. This register will represent the only record associated with surveys of student opinion.

7.Individual Faculty may wish to avail of the University's facility for conducting student surveys of opinions of teaching through the Statistical Officer who, if used, is obliged to maintain confidentiality, or may choose to conduct the survey in their own way using qualitative or quantitative measures. Whichever survey method is used will form part of the register of surveys carried out.

8.Lecturers are free to conduct surveys of student opinion outside the set explicitly selected for survey and to feed this information back into the register of surveys carried out.

9.The register of surveys carried out will comprise the following information: programme, year, module (code and title), method of survey (eg number of questions), number of students responding.

10.Student surveys are carried out by the Lecturer concerned. If a Lecturer chooses not to use the facilities of the University's statistical office then some assistance from the administrative and/or technical staff in the School may be provided, at the discretion of the Head of School.

11.Surveys may be carried out in class and should not take more than 15 minutes to complete.

 

While surveys of individual modules on a variety of courses taught in the School have been conducted since the Academic year 1999/2000, surveys of entire academic programmes beginning with the academic year 2000-2001 were exit surveys of final year students in all academic programmes taught within the School are carried out. The following points summarise the policy:

12. All final year students will be requested to participate in the survey.

13. These surveys will be coordinated by Programme Board Chairs. If a Programme Board Chair chooses not to use the facilities of the
University's statistical office then some assistance from the administrative and/or technical staff in the School may be provided, at the discretion of the Head of School.

14. The results and outcomes from surveys of student opinion of teaching, whether qualitative or quantitative, will remain confidential to the Programme Board Chair concerned, who will provide a report on the outcomes of the survey at the next available Programme Board meeting.

15. Each exit survey will be carried out once in any one academic year. No lecturer requested to carry out any exit survey will be required to survey any of their individual modules in any one academic year.

16. Each survey needs to be tailored to each individual programme of study. Given this, the selection of questions to be included in the survey should be selected by the Programme Board Chair concerned. No questions in the survey should be focussed on any particular modules, or lecturers, teaching on that course. The questionnaire will appear on a standard form agreed by the School.

17. An historical register of the programmes of study for which student opinions are gathered, will be maintained and made available online, along with this policy document. This register will represent the only record associated with surveys of student opinion.

18. The register of surveys carried out will comprise the following information: programme, year, method of survey (e.g. number of questions), number of students responding. 

19. Surveys may be carried out in class and should not take more than 15 minutes to complete.

Prof. Joseph Morris
Head of School