Adoption of Web-Enabled Student Evaluation of Teaching (WESET)

Raghu Raman,Prema Nedungadi

doi:10.3991/ijet.v15i24.17159

Abstract

The “student voice” movement, which advocates for the critical importance of seeking and applying student input into educational decisions such as curriculum development and teaching methods, has been gaining momentum. We examine “student voice” through the vehicle of “Student Evaluation of Teaching (SET)” in the context of higher education. We treat Web-Enabled Student Evaluation of Teaching (WESET) in higher educational institutions as an innovation and apply Diffusion of Innovation theory to study its adoption. We study WESET rates of adoption by analyzing data from 45,934 anonymous student feedbacks of 427 teachers by 1102 students over a period of five years covering both undergraduate and graduate programs at an Indian university. Data from 589 courses in three distinct academic disciplines were collected and analyzed. The adoption rate of the students is primarily attributed to three factors: (a) the guarantee that the system will maintain anonymity, (b) expectation that student feedback will result in positive changes, and (c) ease of use as WESET was integrated into an existing system already used by students. Student evaluations for the same courses significantly improved over each subsequent semester, suggesting that faculty had incorporate student feedback into their curriculum and teaching methods.

Highlights

The student voice movement began several decades ago when the value of analyzing students’ perspectives on their learning experiences was recognized [1]–[3]
This paper focuses on adoption of Web-Enabled Student Evaluation of Teaching (WESET) as one particular vehicle for student voice, it was administered within a broader context that offered several options for student feedback
In this paper we argue that digitally-enabled student voice is an innovative concept and its diffusion in higher educational institutions warrants detailed study

Summary

Introduction

The student voice movement began several decades ago when the value of analyzing students’ perspectives on their learning experiences was recognized [1]–[3]. Seen as co-researchers, for example, they tend to display more initiative and assume more leadership roles Another facet of student voice, teacher evaluations, may offer benefits to faculty and course structure, as well. WESET has many advantages than using paper-pencil method in that it allows students more convenience of using it anytime and anywhere without any time pressures. It is very much compatible with the traditional method like similar set of questions as before and complete anonymity of the feedback It has very easy to use web interface with features like saving the responses, manage multiple courses and Many students were convinced of WESET’s usefulness when they saw their peers using it. Informational circulars as well as training were provided for faculty in each discipline to demonstrate WESET as well as to seek suggestions for further customization

Methods

Findings

Discussion

Conclusion