Student perspective on electronic evaluation of teaching

Research indicates that administering university student evaluation of teaching electronically rather than via paper-based surveys increases the quality and timeliness of the feedback thereby making a stronger contribution to teaching and learning enhancement. The documented drawback of electronic student evaluation is the response rate, which is significantly lower than paper-based surveys. This study documents a pilot project whereby electronic student evaluation of teaching was administered for one semester in units of study in three of four of the University’s faculties. The outcomes confirmed similar studies’ results. Whereas most studies are written from the academic and/or administrator point of view, the unique contribution of this study, coauthored by a graduate student, is that students were asked to evaluate the evaluation through an online forum, focus groups, and through the student association. The feedback conveyed a clear and consistent message that students prefer electronic student evaluation of teaching because of enhanced anonymity and convenience and less time pressure