Student Evaluations of University Teaching: Recommendations for Policy and Practice

Professor Herb Marsh is a world-leading researcher in Educational Psychology. He is the author of internationally recognised psychological tests that measure self-concept, motivation and university students' evaluations of teaching effectiveness. Although SETs have a solid research base stemming largely from research conducted in the 1980s, it is surprising that research conducted in the last decade has not done more to address critical limitations previously identified and incorporate exciting methodological advances that are relevant to SET research. Why do universities continue to collect and disseminate potentially demoralising feedback to academics without more fully implementing programs to improve teaching effectiveness? Why is there not more SET research on how to enhance the usefulness of SETs as part of a program to improve university teaching? These, and other issues, are addressed in this presentation.