Institutionalising a system for undergraduate module evaluations: an action research study

[摘要] English: Understanding the learning experiences of students at higher education institutions is important if institutions are to enhance the quality of their teaching and learning. One mechanism for gathering feedback from students on their learning experiences, is module evaluations. For module evaluations to play a role in quality enhancement it is important that institutions have policies and procedures that govern the process of module evaluations to ensure that student feedback is optimally used to enhance teaching and learning practices. Module evaluations at the University of the Free State (UFS) have been conducted inconsistently, with modules being evaluated in some departments, but not in others. Different module evaluation instruments were also used across different faculties. The need to institutionalise module evaluations was furthermore highlighted in the Higher Education Quality Council's (HEQC) quality audit of the UFS in 2006. The need to develop a framework within which module evaluations could be institutionalised at the UFS was therefore evident.In this dissertation, I have attempted to provide such a framework for institutionalising module evaluations at the UFS, grounded in systems thinking. The following overarching research question guided this study:How can the UFS effectively institutionalise module evaluations as one mechanism for enhancing quality of teaching and learning?In attempting to answer this question, three sub-questions further guided the study:1. How do primary stakeholders (students and lecturers) experience module evaluations?2. How can these experiences be used to enhance module evaluation procedures?3. How can systems thinking contribute to the process of effectively institutionalising module evaluations?In this action research study, a mixed methods design was employed to explore the experiences of the primary stakeholders in the module evaluation process at the UFS, namely students, lecturers and Teaching and Learning Managers (TLMs). Quantitative data from more than 25 000 students was collected over the three phases of the action research study by means of an institutional module evaluation questionnaire. Qualitative data was collected from all three stakeholder groups over the first two phases of the study. Six focus groups were conducted among students, while 25 lecturers, 16 students and six TLMs were interviewed to understand the primary stakeholder experiences of module evaluations.The findings of the research were integrated and analysed using a systems thinking framework. A more comprehensive understanding of module evaluations at the UFS was facilitated by identifying firstly the components that make up the system and secondly how these components affect and relate to each other. This understanding enabled the provision of guidelines concerning the use of module evaluation results including providing feedback to students and outlining the roles of lecturers, TLMs and Heads of Departments (HoDs) in the module evaluation process.

[发布机构] University of the Free State