Student evaluations: Pedagogical tools, or weapons of choice?

Abstract

In this paper, we survey the recent literature of student evaluation surveys (‘SETs’) in the university sector, in so doing identifying a number of diverse issues that this literature reveals, and contextualising its general findings to the teaching practices of a regional Australian law school. This article argues that, contrary to their original intention, SETs are more often used as blunt instruments than nuanced pedagogical tools. Case studies drawn from Southern Cross University’s School of Law and Justice corroborate the general tenor of the literature, namely that there is ‘little evidence that study findings are being used to change or improve the student learning experience.’ Rather, these increasingly streamlined surveys provide online opportunities to take the subjective ‘pulse’ of student satisfaction, momentary snapshots that often generate instant heat, but shed little light. We argue that SETs need to be seen in context, as part of a wider and more pedagogically informed measure of good teaching. While it seems unlikely that SETs in their present form will disappear overnight, their continuing validity requires current teaching evaluation to be itself evaluated, the first priority being the paring back of survey questions to only those factors capable of objective and verifiable measurement.