Enhancing Learning and Teaching Through Student Feedback in Social Sciences: (Chandos Learning and Teaching Series)

This title is the second Chandos Learning and Teaching Series book that explores themes surrounding enhancing learning and teaching through student feedback. It expands on topics covered in the previous publication, and focuses on social science disciplines. The editors previously addressed this gap in their first book Student Feedback: The cornerstone to an effective quality assurance system in higher education. In recent years, student feedback has appeared in the forefront of higher education quality, in particular the issues of effectiveness and the use of student feedback to affect improvement in higher education teaching and learning, and also other areas of student tertiary experience. This is an edited book with contributions by experts in higher education quality and particularly student feedback in social science disciplines from a range of countries, such as Australia, Europe, Canada, the USA, the UK and India. This book is concerned with the practices of evaluation and higher education quality in social science disciplines, with particular focus on student feedback.

Table of Contents:
List of figures and tables Preface About the authors Chapter 1: Playing broken telephone with student feedback: the possibilities and issues of transformation within a South African case of a collegial rationality model of evaluation Abstract: Contextual background Institutional context Academic perceptions and the use of student feedback Improving quality Enabling student ‘voice’ Increasing student ownership Educational value for students Conclusion: critical concerns arising from this context Chapter 2: Listening to students’ voices to enhance their experience of university Abstract: Introduction Method Findings Discussion Conclusion Chapter 3: Feedback cycles or evaluation systems? A critical analysis of the current trends in student feedback in Austrian social sciences Abstract: Introduction The ‘peculiar sector’: an overview of the Austrian higher education system From ‘teaching censorship’ to ‘quality assurance’: a brief historical tour of Austrian feedback mechanisms in higher education Emerging trends Relevance of student feedback in Austrian social sciences Chapter 4: Synchronous feedback: receiving feedback from international students Abstract: Introduction Interactive communication Delivering feedback Problems with synchronous online feedback Conclusion Chapter 5: Using programme-level student feedback: The Chinese University of Hong Kong Abstract Introduction To what end: quality education Institutional context Feedback mechanisms and processes Student feedback (how, when and to whom) Comparative practices in selected programmes Response to student feedback Key features and future actions Reflections on practice Chapter 6: Usefulness of student feedback: the Singapore experience Abstract: Introduction Types and importance of student feedback Emotional aspects of learning, personal growth and identity Student support and context Background to NIE study Methodology of NIE study Findings of NIE study Discussion and implications of NIE study Conclusion Acknowledgement Chapter 7: Teacher perceptions of the introduction of student evaluation of teaching in Japanese tertiary education Abstract: Introduction The introduction of student evaluation of teaching (SET) in Japanese tertiary education The present study Discussion of findings Implications: how can evaluation be improved? Chapter 8: Improvements to formative feedback: views of staff and students Abstract: Introduction Background to the study Definitions of feedback Staff views on formative feedback provided to students Student views on formative feedback provided to them Suggestions for improvement in the provision of formative feedback Conclusion Chapter 9: Emerging trends and approaches in the student voice in the social sciences Abstract: Introduction Key trends, issues and approaches Concluding remarks Index

About the Author :
Professor Sid Nair is currently Executive Dean and Dean Learning, Teaching and Student Experience at the Victorian Institute of Technology (VIT), Australia where he is responsible for the learning, teaching, student experience and quality matters of the Institution. Previous to this appointment at VIT, Sid was the Executive Director of the Tertiary Education Commission (TEC), Mauritius, the apex regulatory body where he was responsible for the formulation and execution of strategies, policies and procedures in the higher education sector in Mauritius. Prior to joining TEC, he was Professor of Higher Education Development at the Centre for Education Futures (CEF), University of Western Australia. His role was to build the capacity of academics in the digital delivery of their teaching. His career path also had him as Interim Director and Quality Advisor (Evaluations and Research) at the Centre for Higher Education Quality (CHEQ) at Monash University, Australia where he headed the evaluation unit at Monash University. In this capacity he restructured the evaluation framework at the university. The approach to evaluations at Monash has been noted in the first round of the Australian Universities Quality Agency (AUQA) audits and is part of the good practice database. His research work lies in the areas of quality in the higher education system, classroom and school environments, and the implementation of improvements from stakeholder feedback. He has extensive lecturing experience in the applied sciences in Canada, Singapore and Australia. He is an international consultant in quality and evaluations in higher education. Dr Patricie Mertova is currently a Research Fellow in the Department of Education, University of Oxford, England. She was previously a Research Officer at the University of Queensland, and, prior to that, a Research Fellow in the Centre for the Advancement of Learning and Teaching (CALT) and the Centre for Higher Education Quality (CHEQ), Monash University, Australia. She has recently completed her PhD focusing on the academic voice in higher education quality. She has research expertise in the areas of higher education and higher education quality. Her background is also in the areas of linguistics, translation, cross-cultural communication and foreign languages.

Review :
This book was an interesting read and gave me a solid overview of both the theoretical background of the subject (and its purpose) as well as examples of international best practice. This would make a useful book for anyone working directly in student feedback settings and would enable them to appreciate both the "why" of feedback as well as giving clear suggestions on improving the "how"., Managing Information