Written by Timothy van Veen
At the end of every teaching session, students are invited to complete Student Surveys for the subjects they participate in during the session.
These surveys are incredibly helpful to tutors and subject coordinators, more commonly known as academic staff, as they are provided with feedback on how their subject went in the session and if there are any changes that need to be made or things that need to be addressed.
However, some students do worry about sharing their feedback and how it may affect marks.
In this article, we will unpack some of the common concerns students have around the student survey so you will feel more comfortable submitting them.
Myth #1:
If I submit unfavourable feedback of a tutor, they will be angry and dock marks from my subject.
I know that this could be a large concern for students, but fortunately, this is not the case. The results of the Student Surveys are given to the academic staff following the release of grades. Furthermore, the survey feedback is confidential, and staff are not told who gives the feedback.
Myth #2:
Why should I bother submitting feedback, it’s not like anything I say will change the subject.
This is not the case.
Given that information changes year to year, and new technologies and methods are constantly being developed, it really helps both the university and future students studying the subject when students identify issues with the subjects they study and share it with the university.
To use a basic example, this could include recording new and updated lectures, or replacing a resource used to teach a topic with a newer and more up-to-date resource.
Myth #3:
There is no way for me to find out if my feedback made any difference.
Fortunately, there is a way to find out if your feedback makes a difference. If you feel inclined to find out what changes the academic staff have made to the subject you have provided feedback for, you can start by searching for the subject outline for the new session, for your old subject.
You can do this by utilising the Subject Outline Tool found via the Student Portal and by typing in the subject code and the current session.
Once you have found the subject you want, scroll down Student Feedback and Learning Analytics and there you should see a section dedicated to informing students about the changes and actions based on student feedback.
As an example, as shown in the image below, the final written assessment has been rewritten based on the extensive feedback the academic staff received.
Hopefully this should have given you confidence in submitting these student surveys.
They might take a while to submit but they are very helpful for academic staff and the future students of Charles Sturt University will thank you for doing it.
The Subject Experience Survey opened on Friday 4 October 2024, so this is an excellent opportunity to provide your valuable feedback. Learn more and complete the survey before it closes on Friday 1 November 2024.
You’ll receive an email with the survey link and can also access it through the ‘Subject Survey’ menu option in your subject outline.
Charlie blog is a SSAF funded initiative
