Can students’ ratings inform course design?

Abstract

Students' reactions to courses are often sought in an attempt to improve the design of these courses. Usually, reactions are obtained via rating scales or other objective instruments. There are also a number of studies which investigate the reliability and validity of these objective measures.A critique is offered of one such study. It is suggested that the study should be seen not as a scientific investigation of reliability and validity but rather as a process of becoming more discriminating. This greater discrimination could have been achieved more directly by 'qualitative' methods. Moreover a qualitative approach tends to yield more useful information than does a statistical approach.Studies are often reported without adequate discussion of the potential usefulness of these studies. A consideration of the design process shows that while student feedback does have a role to play in course design this role is limited by certain aspects of course design. Thus, many important problems of course design remain untouched. It is suggested that more resources should be diverted to tackling these latter problems.