Policy on Student Module and Programme Feedback

Transcription

1 Policy on Student Module and Programme Feedback Introduction The University constantly reviews the structure of its degrees, the content of its modules and the application of its rules and regulations. It does this to improve the provision it offers to students. Comments of the External Examiners, which are received on an annual basis, are the main focus of such reviews but as important are the views of students. In accordance with the Student Representation and Engagement Strategy, students are invited to comment on their academic experiences at Swansea in a variety of ways: At modular level through the Student Module Feedback system (feeding into Annual Module Review and Annual Programme Review) At programme level through periodic reviews of the programme internally and/or by professional bodies or re-validation events. Through the College by means of a student-staff committee or forum at which the views and concerns of students are heard in a more formal setting. Also through membership of the Board of Studies and College Learning and Teaching Committee. At University level student representatives serve on key University committees, such as the Regulations, Quality and Standards Committee, the Learning and Teaching Committee, Student Affairs Committee and Academic Boards, and are invited to raise issues on behalf of students. Furthermore, an annual survey is conducted by the University (the Student Experience Survey) for students pursuing Year One and Year Two of Undergraduate Degree programmes. The University also participates in the National Student Survey for final year undergraduate students, the Higher Education Academy s Postgraduate Taught Experience Survey (PTES) for students pursuing Taught Postgraduate programmes and the Postgraduate Research Experience Survey (PRES) for students pursuing Postgraduate Research programmes, providing a further opportunity for student feedback and ensuring that this is facilitated at all years of study. Institutionally, student feedback is monitored by the Learning and Teaching Committee. The following sections outline the University policy on gaining and responding to the outcomes of student feedback at modular level and on institutional issues. Student Feedback at Module and Programme Level The University has introduced a central system for student feedback of modules. This system offers Module Coordinators the ability to undertake an electronic -based feedback 1, which is processed centrally and fed back to Colleges. Feedback is obtained for all modules delivered in each semester. The process usually commences in the seventh week of teaching in the semester and finishes prior to the formal examination period. The system is based around a standard module feedback questionnaire as agreed by the University Learning and Teaching Committee, following extensive consideration of other questionnaires in use across the institution and with input from the Students Union and the 1 The current software used enables either paper or electronic based feedback to be obtained. The university currently used electronic methods.

2 University and College Union at Swansea. There are optional subject specific questions that can be added to allow Colleges to tailor the feedback to their needs. Following completion of the survey period, all module leaders/co-ordinators and lecturers will receive a module feedback report. These reports shall be used to improve teaching, learning and assessment by identifying areas of good practice and highlighting aspects requiring review or improvement. Student module feedback results also form part of the Annual Programme Review (APR) process. Colleges will be required to share the results of Student Module Feedback and their response with students in an appropriate form, preserving the anonymity of staff and students where necessary. For further details see the section The Use and Distribution of Student Feedback Data. Institutional Policy on Student Feedback 1) All administrative departments and academic Colleges are required to obtain feedback from their client base to assure the standards and enhance the quality of provision. Academic Colleges will receive students feedback of academic provision at module level via the Student Module Feedback system. (See the section Student Feedback at Module and Programme Level). Similarly, administrative departments whose client base includes students should also undertake feedback of their services. 2) The mechanisms used by the institution to obtain student feedback should be open and transparent, with students advised of the results and intended responses to issues of concern. 3) The Student Affairs Committee and the Learning and Teaching Committee shall receive the outcomes of key external and internal student surveys and the action plans produced in response to these outcomes. 4) To provide a cross-institutional approach, the University shall initiate a formal survey of Year 1 and Year 2 students each year to evaluate a range of general issues related to learning and teaching (the Student Experience Survey). This will include academic and tutorial guidance, support and supervision, quality of teaching, range of learning and teaching methods, feedback to assignments, quality of learning resources, suitability of teaching accommodation, facilities and equipment and quality of pastoral support. The Survey shall also seek the feedback of specific matters related to programme structure and delivery to support Colleges in undertaking regular reviews of their provision. The Student Experience Survey shall have the following characteristics: a) All Year 1 and Year 2 students, regardless of mode of study or location of study shall be involved in the survey to ensure that the results are representative of the academic disciplines of the University and the diversity of the student body. b) The Survey questionnaire shall be designed broadly to reflect the questions asked in the National Student Survey to maintain consistency and allow comparison of the feedback collected across academic years of study. c) Survey results shall be disaggregated to a variety of levels to serve relevant management information needs. To preserve the anonymity of students, where student numbers enrolled on a specific programme or subject area is small, results may be aggregated to College level.

3 5) The Learning and Teaching Committee shall consider the results of the Student Experience Survey, the National Student Survey, the Postgraduate Taught Experience Survey (PTES), the Postgraduate Research Experience Survey (PRES) and any other student satisfaction survey. Results at programme level shall be referred to the College concerned for consideration. Specific matters for concern shall be referred to appropriate individuals or committees. Colleges are required to produce and submit action plans to the Learning and Teaching Committee in response to their results. The Learning and Teaching Committee shall be responsible for monitoring actions to ensure that quality enhancement is being undertaken. Colleges are required to provide a written response to their survey results and utilise the results within the APR process. The Learning and Teaching Committee shall monitor the receipt and content of these responses. 6) Student feedback and involvement in decision-making is promoted via a number of means: through student representatives at college level, college and subject representatives, Staff/Student Consultative Committees 2 and other mechanisms. Additionally, the Students Union Full Time Officers are members of the University s key academic decision making bodies including Senate and Council. All of the Students Union Full Time Officers are members of the Student Affairs Committee, chaired by the Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Student Experience and including lay members of Council. The Learning and Teaching Committee shall have a primary role in enhancing the quality of the student learning experience. The Students Union President and Education Officer are members of this committee. The Use and Distribution of Student Feedback Data What is student feedback data used for? The principal purpose for collecting this data is to reflect on the quality of the student experience, and to use this information to make improvements which will further enhance the student experience. The quantitative data generated from all student feedback mechanisms should be used for module review, programme annual and periodic review and other forms of quality assurance and enhancement activities designed to enhance the quality of teaching, learning and the student experience. Qualitative comments may ONLY be used, if redacted comments are available. For this reason, the comments made in module feedback MAY NOT be distributed for the purposes of periodic review or other quality assurance purposes, unless with the consent of individual module leaders. Qualitative comments for modules meeting certain threshold scores will be reviewed by limited staff members in the Quality Office, Academic Registry for the purposes of identifying good and noteworthy practice for quality enhancement purposes. See the sections on distribution of qualitative data and Use of Module Feedback information to enhance the student experience 2 Specific terminology for the meeting with students is under consultation

4 Data from Module Feedback will be included in the University s Performance Enabling process. For further information about this, please contact the Director of Human Resources. Distribution of Quantitative Data Quantitative data which does not have personal identifiers (i.e. at programme, subject or College level) will be distributed as appropriate including benchmarking information. This information will be discussed at University, College, Subject and Programme level meetings to enable the enhancement of academic provision. The distribution of quantitative data which has personal identifiers in (for instance linked to a module leader or lecturer) will be restricted to those who need to use this information. This is only relevant in regard to module feedback which is discussed in more detail below. Distribution of Qualitative Data Qualitative data in the form of student free text comments is collected during all feedback processes, and is often the most valuable form of feedback as it allows students to provide more detailed information on key areas which matter to them. However, the university recognises that all comments of this nature can be affected by bias, therefore comments are provided for information only. Students are required to behave professionally and provide constructive criticism where appropriate, and are not expected to include any unprofessional or potentially slanderous comments. Qualitative data arising from subject or programme level surveys is available to all staff. Qualitative data arising from module feedback has a more restricted distribution and this is discussed in more detail below. Module Feedback Specific Issues Quantitative Data Module Coordinators receive the full Student Module Feedback report consisting of a minimum of 3 sections; core questions about the module, questions related to the lecturer(s) and responses to qualitative comments. Each lecturer will receive the core section and their own lecturer section. The Head of College and Chair of Learning and Teaching will receive the full Student module feedback reports for all staff in the College. These can be shared with programme directors as appropriate. Summary reports giving an overview on the core questions about the module for all modules compared with the subject area, College or university average are produced and circulated to the Head of College and Chair of Learning and Teaching. The module coordinators names are listed on these reports. Qualitative Data The University will limit the distribution of these free text comments from module feedback. Free text comments will only be distributed to the appropriate Module Coordinator(s), Head of College and Chair of Learning and Teaching. Module Coordinators will produce a

5 summary version of the comments for wider distribution for students and others teaching on the module removing any identifiable information or inappropriate comments. It shall be at the discretion of the Head of College as to the distribution of results internally to those with key management oversight of the teaching provision, e.g. programme directors. For those modules which meet certain threshold scores, qualitative comments will be reviewed by Quality Office staff and the key features of good practice identified. See the section Use of Module Feedback information to enhance the student experience This qualitative information should be treated as confidential, and should not be shared more widely without individual consent or redaction of personal or identifiable information. Students are informed that they should not make defamatory or rude comments and that we will take any necessary actions against students found to be doing this. However, comments are not reviewed prior to distribution and if you have any concerns about comments made in module feedback these should be taken up with the Chair of Learning and Teaching/Head of College in the first instance. If, after discussion it is felt that students have made comments which contravene the warnings given, then this should be brought to the attention of the Acting Director of Academic Services who will consider what further action may need to be taken. Reviewing the data It is the responsibility of the module leader to provide a summary of the free text comments for wider distribution for students and others teaching on the module removing any identifiable information or inappropriate comments or the full comments if there is no defamatory or personal information therein. The comments should be considered in conjunction with the quantitative data and used in the module review process. For further details, see the section the Code of Practice on module level review. There is NO requirement to submit module review templates to any university Committee. Summary Reports of the core questions only should be used for discussion at College Learning and Teaching Committees and/or Boards of Studies and in the review of Modules and Annual Programme review alongside a summary of comments produced by the module leader. A spreadsheet showing response rates for each module is also produced which should be reviewed carefully as small numbers of respondents can give statistically unreliable results. If there are concerns about response rates, consideration to other forms of student feedback should be given including staff student consultative committees 3, NSS results and qualitative comments from students. Please note that these Summary Reports do not show how many students or what proportion of those on the module completed module feedback so this should be checked on the actual module report or the excel spreadsheet before considering further action. The College/subject area may wish to examine the data for both issues requiring enhancement and practices worthy of dissemination. For example, the College may wish to identify modules that are falling significantly below or above a College average and then consult the qualitative comments to determine what generic issues need to be addressed or 3 Specific terminology for the meeting with students is under consultation

6 are worthy of dissemination. The specific process will be for the College to decide, but you must keep the qualitative comments confidential. Where good practice is identified, you are encouraged to further disseminate this to other colleagues to support enhancement of the student s experience and/or to liaise with SALT (see the Use of Module Feedback information to enhance the student experience. There is NO requirement to submit a College or subject level analysis of these results to any university Committee. Use of Module Feedback information to enhance the student experience In order to identify and share good practice, module feedback reports which meet the threshold will be reviewed by Academic Registry staff for good practice as identified in the qualitative comments. Academic Registry staff will respect the confidential nature of this information as set out in the section on use of Distribution of Qualitative Data of this policy. Furthermore they will only focus on the good practice elements and will not note any negative comments in the reports. Enhancement threshold An overall average score on the lecturer specific questions of 4.4 or greater. Once identified as good practice, the module code, staff member s name and relevant comments associated with the high scores (e.g. enthusiastic and clear lecturer, thorough feedback), as derived from the module feedback comments, will be shared with staff of SALT. SALT staff will then contact the relevant staff members asking them to indicate how they can share their good practice with other parts of the institution and/or external audiences. Student Surveys (Including the Student Experience Survey, National Student Survey, Postgraduate Taught Experience Survey and Postgraduate Research Experience Survey, along with any related surveys which may be undertaken). Qualitative data collected from Student Surveys operated by the University will be reviewed by the University and any comments which are identifiable or potentially identifiable will be redacted from negative comments. Names and other identifiable data will be retained within positive comments, unless there are negative comparisons made within this. Redaction of this information does not imply that the University endorses the information received, and the opinions included remain those of the students returning the comment. In addition, Ipsos MORI will redact ALL identifiable data from the National Student Survey, and the University do not have access to the unredacted data at any point. This data will be made available to all members of the College for information. A copy of the unredacted comments from each survey (with the exception of the NSS) will be sent to the Head of College and Chair of Learning and Teaching for review. As with the results of module review, the College/subject area may wish to examine the data from student surveys for both areas requiring enhancement and practices worthy of dissemination.

7 The section of this policy on Reviewing the data outlines what specific action is required by Colleges in response to the Student Surveys.