What Higher Education Teachers Think About Quantitative Student Evaluation

Abstract

There has been considerable research interest in both the technical dimensions and situated use of quantitative forms of student evaluation. However, the epistemological assumptions of student evaluation have remained largely undisturbed by this research effort. Similarly, limited attention has been directed to what academics actually think about student evaluation and—closely related to this—what pedagogical or other work it actually does in practice. Despite this, in the drive for the continued expansion of student evaluation systems, crucial assumptions are made by management in higher education about the levels of academic support for student evaluation and the willingness to adopt its outcomes. So what do academics actually think about quantitative student evaluation? Moreover, how willing are they or otherwise to analyse and/or accept its outcomes to modify their pedagogical approaches or other learning strategies? In this chapter, data collected from a broad range of academics working in a major, internationally recognised Australian university is detailed and its implications for the assumed roles and functions of orthodox student evaluation is analysed. This research provides insights into the complex realities that surround the contemporary work of student evaluation in higher education. The outcomes suggest that tensions are being increasingly formed around rising accountability and quality assurance discourses, which are challenging the seminal intent of student evaluation to guide pedagogical decision-making.