The views of academics on the use of student feedback for curriculum improvement

Abstract

The research compared and contrasted the views of educators in Teacher Education Programmes, located in two different institutions, regarding the ways in which they utilised student feedback to improve the curriculum. The educators were selected on the basis that they collected student feedback using self-created questionnaires, then analysed it manually. The design was qualitative. Data were obtained using open-ended questionnaires and triangulated with semi-structured interviews. The findings confirmed that the participants utilised student feedback to improve the curriculum. Nonetheless, inherent challenges, contradictions and gaps were identified in the evaluation system, including the lack of coordination of the evaluation process which resulted in the fragmentation of the system. The lack of monitoring of the evaluation system and of training of academic members on the analysis and use of student feedback proved to be vital processes that adversely affected the success of utilising student feedback maximally. In this article it is argued that for student feedback to be utilised effectively to improve the curriculum, clear policies and guidelines should be formulated and monitoring should drive the implementation of the evaluation process.