Feedback on teaching, courses and tutoring
How the University gathers student feedback on our courses and teaching, what we ask them and how we use their responses.
Feedback from students is a really valuable quality assurance process. Student feedback is anonymous and provides important information to your lecturers.
Feedback on teaching and courses
We routinely seek feedback from students about the quality of each course and the teaching of staff. Student feedback is a vital source of information to help improve courses and teaching.
Course feedback questions
In each course feedback questionnaire, we ask students how these areas affected their learning:
- organisation of the course
- communication of course information
- assessments
- comments and feedback from teachers and tutors
- the amount of work.
Students are asked to rate how much the course:
- encouraged creative and critical thinking
- helped them develop communication skills
- stimulated their interest in learning more about the subject.
We ask students to rate the quality of the course overall, list a few things that helped them learn and suggest improvements. There is also space for general written comments, which are passed on to teaching staff after grades have been finalised.
Feedback about teachers
The University’s teachers regularly collect anonymous feedback from students about their teaching.
Students are sent a survey asking them to rate how well the teacher:
- organised their teaching
- communicated ideas and information
- stimulated their interest in learning more about the subject
- treated students and their ideas with respect.
They can also rate the teachers’ overall effectiveness, list things the teacher did particularly well and suggest areas for improvement.
Feedback about tutors
Student feedback for tutors is anonymously collected by each School. For more information contact your course coordinator.
Informal feedback
Lecturers can seek informal feedback from students at any time. Staff may use informal feedback to understand how a particular part of their course is operating.
There are no standard questions for informal feedback, lecturers develop these themselves. Responses are anonymous, and typically confidential between the lecturer and the students.
How we use student feedback
Student feedback is an important process in helping us improve learning and teaching. Feedback about courses and teaching goes to the course coordinator, school management and the University’s senior managers. All student feedback is anonymous.
Lecturers and teachers receive student feedback about their teaching. Feedback about tutors goes to the course coordinator. Student feedback is also taken into account when academic staff are being considered for promotion.
Email studentfeedback@vuw.ac.nz for more information.