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Maynooth University Centre for Teaching and Learning

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Teaching Evaluation & Student Feedback

This web resource was developed as part of the Maynooth University Student Feedback and Teaching Evaluation Initiative (also known as the ‘Enhancing Teaching and Learning through Module and Programme Evaluation') funded by the HEA in partnership with the National Forum for the Enhancement of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education under the Strategic Alignment of Teaching and Learning Funding (SATLE) in Higher Education 2019.

Open-Access Resources produced by the Student Feedback and Teaching Evaluation Initiative are freely accessible to all staff. These include guides with tips for gathering feedback from students on their experiences of teaching and learning and case studies describing feedback and evaluation activities piloted in different disciplinary contexts.

The resources provided here are designed to assist you in gathering information from students on their experiences of teaching and learning. They also provide guidance about how you can apply teaching evaluation methods to ‘validate’ your student feedback and assist you in enhancing your teaching. They include both ‘how to’ guides and case studies outlining pilot feedback and evaluation activities undertaken in a range of disciplinary contexts.

If you would like to find out more about the Initiative, please email teachingandlearning@mu.ie

Literature Review

This Literature Review explores the main issues and debates about student feedback in the recent Higher Education literature.

Student Feedback

These guides provide tips and ideas for gathering feedback from students on their experiences of teaching and learning.

You may also wish to direct your students to these resources on student feedback:

Case Studies

During the Initiative, three departments, Applied Social Studies, Chemistry, and Music – each representing one of Maynooth University’s Faculties – piloted a range of approaches to enable them to better gather student feedback, and, through this enhance teaching and learning in their departments. Each disciplinary team wrote a case study detailing the multifaceted activities that they designed and piloted. These case studies indicate why the department teams chose the approaches piloted, and how they went about the activities in practice, as well detailing the teams’ reflections on their pilots’ outcomes.

Initiative Case Study Reports

Chemistry Student Feedback Case Study - A Whole Team Approach to Embedding a Culture of Feedback between Student and Staff Partners in First Year Chemistry

Music Student Feedback Case Study - Developing Student Feedback and Engagement for the Maynooth University Music Department

Teaching Evaluation

The Evaluation of Teaching is a broad subject. The Student Feedback and Teaching Evaluation Initiative considered one aspect of Teaching Evaluation by exploring the topic of ‘Validating Student Feedback’ i.e. enabling staff to get other perspectives on teaching to complement that of students, in order to assist them in enhancing their teaching. A guide for staff on this approach is available below.

Guide to Validating Student Feedback - Teaching Evaluation

About the Initiative

This Initiative explored how qualitative and quantitative approaches to student feedback and teaching evaluation, at module and programme level, can support the enhancement of the student learning experience and the enhancement of teaching practice. It brought together staff and students from across Maynooth University. In particular three academic Departments – Applied Social Studies, Chemistry, and Music – designed and piloted a range of student feedback approaches appropriate to their disciplines. They used the feedback obtained to consider how they could respond to student concerns raised and to think more broadly about teaching development. We hope that the Initiative’s resources will fuel further discussion about and development of feedback and evaluation practice at Maynooth and beyond.

Initiative Team and Sponsors

Initiative Sponsors
Dr Alison Hood – Dean of Teaching and Learning
Prof Aidan Mulkeen – Vice President Academic, Registrar, Deputy President

Initiative Team
Mr Stephen Barrett – Department of Chemistry
Ms Caytlin Boylan – Department of Chemistry
Mr Michael Butler – Maynooth University Students’ Union (Vice President Education 2019-2020)
Dr Ciara Bradley – Department of Applied Social Studies
Dr Gloria Kirwan - Department of Applied Social Studies
Dr Joseph Curran – Centre for Teaching and Learning (Initiative Post-Doctoral Researcher)
Dr Gordon Delap – Department of Music
Dr Eithne Dempsey – Department of Chemistry
Mr Kyle Doherty – Department of Chemistry
Dr Alison Farrell – Centre for Teaching and Learning.
Ms Orla Fenelon – Department of Chemistry
Dr Niamh Flanagan – Department of Applied Social Studies.
Prof Frances Heaney – Department of Chemistry
Ms Margaret Keane – Centre for Teaching and Learning.
Dr Tobias Krämer – Department of Chemistry
Mr Luke Marchetti – Department of Chemistry
Dr Laura McElwain – Institutional Research Office
Dr Estelle Murphy – Department of Music
Mr Julian Nagi – Maynooth University Students’ Union (Vice President Education 2020-2021)
Ms Lisa O Regan – Centre for Teaching and Learning (Initiative Project Manager)
Dr Michael Palmese – Department of Music
Dr Francesca Placanica – Department of Music
Dr Denise Rooney – Department of Chemistry
Dr Trinidad Velasco-Torrijos – Department of Chemistry