A Student Feedback and Experience Framework

The student voice is gaining importance in many parts of the world. The renewal of quality assurance in many countries has increased the emphasis on using student experience measures to assess – and in some cases reward – institutions. For many years universities have used different kinds of survey instruments and methodologies to collect student feedback. However, few attempts have been made to use the results and to implement changes and improvements in a timely manner. The engagement of students in implementing and communicating improvements, together with rewarding improvements and excellence in teaching and other support services, is also an area of limited research. There are indications that the student voice will be used by governments to assess and reward universities. This strategy has been used in Australian higher education since 2004, and the government plans to continue to reward universities using various measures, including student survey results. The literature on student satisfaction and experience is substantial, although research is limited relating to examples of the practical application of survey and improvement frameworks that have proven to be successful in tracking, monitoring and improving student satisfaction and rewarding consistent positive performance. This chapter addresses the current gap in research and practice by outlining features of an effective student feedback and experience framework based on four factors: recommendations made in quality audits, the research literature, the practices in universities that are in the external quality agency's good practice database and our own practical experience with managing a number of surveys in five different Australian universities.