Reporting to students on actions taken in response to SETU results

Responding to SETU

Deakin's Evaluation of Teaching and Units procedure envisages a range of activities in the use of SETU data for unit evaluation, including:

• conducting the evaluation
• Faculties will review SETU data
• Faculty boards will report the outcome of their review each semester to the Teaching and Learning Committee of the Academic Board
• the Teaching and Learning Committee will consider the Faculty reports
• SETU data will be used in the PPR process to identify opportunities for improvement in teaching
• The unit chair, relevant course/discipline advisory board, head of school, Associate Dean, Teaching and Learning, Dean and Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic) will consider SETU Questionnaire data and assess this information against school, faculty and University averages and previous evaluations of the unit
• Faculties will provide feedback to students on the evaluation of teaching and units each time the unit is offered.

(Deakin University, 2009)

Reporting on actions arising from a SETU evaluation (to students and the university) are the final steps of the procedure, coming after several stages of review to develop any recommendations for changes to the unit. The following are suggested actions for unit chairs in reviewing SETU results, if they are available.

1. consider the item rating means and percentages of agreement for the ten SETU items;
2. consider the open-ended 'best aspects' and 'needs improvement' comments for the unit - these may provide some context or explanation of the item ratings received;
3. consider the teacher-specific 'quality of teaching' rating and associated comments for all identified unit 'teachers';
4. 'benchmark' the ten SETU items against the mean results for the School and Faculty, and, against any relevant similar units;
5. if SETU results are available for successive offerings of the unit, consider any time-series trends in SETU results for the unit;
6. consult with unit team colleagues on the interpretation of unit SETU results - the Institute of Teaching and Learning web site provides a professional development module on the use of SETU to enhance teaching and learning;
7. if required, seek advice from School/Faculty leadership;
8. if required, seek advice from the Institute of Teaching and Learning education consultancy service; and
9. develop recommendations for any required changes to the unit.

Activity

Have you ever previously been involved in a review of unit content and/or delivery that included SETU data as an input? If yes, in what way(s) was the SETU data used to inform the review process? If yes, what changes were made to unit content and/or delivery in response to SETU data?

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