Measuring and Enhancing the Student Experience

1st Edition - October 24, 2016
Authors: Mahsood Shah, Chenicheri Sid Nair, John Richardson
Language: English
Paperback ISBN:
9 7 8 - 0 - 0 8 - 1 0 0 9 2 0 - 8
eBook ISBN:
9 7 8 - 0 - 0 8 - 1 0 1 0 0 4 - 4

Measuring and Enhancing the Student Experience provides insights on how student experiencemeasures could be used to inform improvements at institutional, course, unit of study and… Read more

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Measuring and Enhancing the Student Experience provides insights on how student experiencemeasures could be used to inform improvements at institutional, course, unit of study and teacherlevel. The book is based on a decade of research and practitioner views on ways to enhance thedesign, conduct, analysis, reporting and closing the loop on student feedback data. While the bookis largely based on Australian case studies, it provides learning experiences for other countries wherestudent experience measures are used in national and institutional quality assurance. Consisting of 13chapters, the book includes a wide range of topics including the role and purpose of student feedback,the use of student feedback in staff performance reviews, staff and student engagement, a studentfeedback and experience framework, the first year experience, use of qualitative data, engagingtransnational students in feedback, closing the loop on feedback, student engagement in nationalquality assurance, use of learning analytics and the future of the student experience.

Mahsood Shah is an Associate Professor and Deputy Dean (Learning and Teaching) with School ofBusiness and Law at CQUniversity, Australia. In this role Mahsood is responsible for enhancing theacademic quality and standard of courses. Mahsood is also responsible for learning and teachingstrategy, governance, effective implementation of policies, and enhancement of learning and teachingoutcomes across all campuses. In providing leadership for learning and teaching, Mahsood workswith key academic leaders across all campuses to improve learning and teaching outcomes of coursesdelivered in various modes including face-to-face and online. At CQUniversity, he provides leadershipin national and international accreditation of academic courses.

Mahsood is also an active researcher. His areas of research include quality in higher education,measurement and enhancement of student experience, student retention and attrition, studentengagement in quality assurance, international higher education, widening participation and privatehigher education.

Chenicheri Sid Nair is the incoming Executive Director, Tertiary Education Commission (TEC), Mauritius.Prior to joining TEC, he was Professor, Higher Education Development at the University of WesternAustralia (UWA), Perth where his work encompassed the improvement of the institutions teachingand learning. Before this appointment to UWA, he was Quality Adviser (Research and Evaluation) inthe Centre for Higher Education Quality (CHEQ) at Monash University, Australia. He has an extensiveexpertise in the area of quality development and evaluation, and he also has considerable editorialexperience. Currently, he is Associate Editor of the International Journal of Quality Assurance inEngineering and Technology Education (IJQAETE). He was also a Managing Editor of the ElectronicJournal of Science Education (EJSE). Professor Nair is also an international consultant in a number ofcountries in quality, student voice and evaluations.

About the Authors
Preface
Chapter 1. Measuring the Student Experience: For Whom and For What Purpose?
- 1.1. Introduction
- 1.2. Student Feedback: For Whom and for What Purpose?
- 1.3. Conclusion
Chapter 2. Student Feedback: The Loophole in Government Policy
- 2.1. Introduction
- 2.2. Current Problem
- 2.3. Strategic Solution
- 2.4. Conclusion
Chapter 3. Student Feedback: Shifting Focus From Evaluations to Staff Performance Reviews
- 3.1. Introduction
- 3.2. Drivers of Change
- 3.3. Performance-Based Funding and New Accountability
- 3.4. Political Imperatives or Institutional Improvement?
- 3.5. Case Study of an Australian University
- 3.6. Limitations of the Strategy Deployed
- 3.7. Conclusion and Future Implications
Chapter 4. Why Should I Complete a Survey? Non-responses With Student Surveys
- 4.1. Introduction
- 4.2. Does Student Participation Matter?
- 4.3. Methodology
- 4.4. Findings
- 4.5. Some Notable Changes
- 4.6. Conclusion
Chapter 5. Engaging Students and Staff in Feedback and Optimising Response Rates
- 5.1. Introduction
- 5.2. Response Rates
- 5.3. Incentives
- 5.4. Survey Fatigue
- 5.5. Communication
- 5.6. Acknowledgement
- 5.7. Ownership
- 5.8. Acceptable Response Rates
- 5.9. A Useful Recipe
- 5.10. Conclusion
Chapter 6. A Student Feedback and Experience Framework
- 6.1. Introduction
- 6.2. Need for a Framework
- 6.3. Current Shortcomings
- 6.4. A Possible Framework for Surveys and Improvements
- 6.5. Conclusion
Chapter 7. Measuring the Expectations and Experience of First-Year Students
- 7.1. Introduction
- 7.2. Rationale for Surveying First-Year Students
- 7.3. Methodology
- 7.4. Overall Findings
- 7.5. Subgroup Analysis
- 7.6. Conclusion and Future Implications
Chapter 8. Accessing Student Voice: Using Qualitative Student Feedback
- 8.1. Introduction
- 8.2. Methods
- 8.3. Findings
- 8.4. Discussion
- 8.5. Conclusion
Chapter 9. Engaging Transnational Students in Quality Assurance and Enhancement
- 9.1. Australian Transnational Education
- 9.2. Monitoring the Transnational Student Experience: Past Practices
- 9.3. Current Policy Directions
- 9.4. Transnational Student Experience
- 9.5. Conclusion
Chapter 10. Closing the Loop: An Essential Part of Student Evaluations
- 10.1. Introduction
- 10.2. Closing the Loop
- 10.3. Are There Negative Implications for Not Closing the Loop?
- 10.4. Strategies to Implement Closing the Loop
- 10.5. Conclusion
Chapter 11. Student Engagement in National Quality Assurance
- 11.1. Introduction
- 11.2. Student Engagement
- 11.3. From External Quality Agency to National Regulator
- 11.4. Prominence of the Student Voice
- 11.5. Conclusion
Chapter 12. Using Learning Analytics to Assess Student Engagement and Experience
- 12.1. Introduction
- 12.2. Learning Analytics
- 12.3. Learning Analytics and Its Stakeholders
- 12.4. Learning Analytics Elements, Process, Tools and Resources
- 12.5. Use of Learning Analytics
- 12.6. Indicators Used as Part of Learning Analytics
- 12.7. Discussion
Chapter 13. Measurement and Enhancement of Student Experience: What Next?
- 13.1. Introduction
- 13.2. Monitoring the Student Experience to Date
- 13.3. Where Are We Heading in Monitoring the Student Experience?
- 13.4. Administration and Type of Surveys
- 13.5. Use of Data
- 13.6. Performance Reporting
- 13.7. Professional Development
- 13.8. Research
- 13.9. Concluding Remarks
Index

Mahsood Shah

Mahsood Shah is an Associate Professor and Deputy Dean (Learning and Teaching) with School of Business and Law at CQUniversity, Australia. In this role Mahsood is responsible for enhancing the academic quality and standard of programs. Mahsood is also responsible for learning and teaching strategy, governance, effective implementation of policies, and enhancement of academic programs across all campuses. In providing leadership for learning and teaching, Mahsood works with key academic leaders across all campuses to improve learning and teaching outcomes of courses delivered in various modes including face-to-face and online. At CQUniversity, he provides leadership in national and international accreditation of academic programs. Mahsood is also an active researcher.

Affiliations and expertise

Associate Professor and Deputy Dean (Learning and Teaching), School of Business and Law, Central Queensland, University, Australia

Chenicheri Sid Nair

Professor Sid Nair is currently Executive Dean and Dean Learning, Teaching and Student Experience at the Victorian Institute of Technology (VIT), Australia where he is responsible for the learning, teaching, student experience and quality matters of the Institution. Previous to this appointment at VIT, Sid was the Executive Director of the Tertiary Education Commission (TEC), Mauritius, the apex regulatory body where he was responsible for the formulation and execution of strategies, policies and procedures in the higher education sector in Mauritius. Prior to joining TEC, he was Professor of Higher Education Development at the Centre for Education Futures (CEF), University of Western Australia. His role was to build the capacity of academics in the digital delivery of their teaching. His career path also had him as Interim Director and Quality Advisor (Evaluations and Research) at the Centre for Higher Education Quality (CHEQ) at Monash University, Australia where he headed the evaluation unit at Monash University. In this capacity he restructured the evaluation framework at the university. The approach to evaluations at Monash has been noted in the first round of the Australian Universities Quality Agency (AUQA) audits and is part of the good practice database. His research work lies in the areas of quality in the higher education system, classroom and school environments, and the implementation of improvements from stakeholder feedback. He has extensive lecturing experience in the applied sciences in Canada, Singapore and Australia. He is an international consultant in quality and evaluations in higher education.

Affiliations and expertise

Executive Dean and Dean Learning, Teaching and Student Experience, Victorian Institute of Technology (VIT), Australia

John Richardson

John Richardson is based at the Open University, UK.

Affiliations and expertise

Open University, UK

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Measuring and Enhancing the Student Experience

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Mahsood Shah

Chenicheri Sid Nair

John Richardson