Why is student feedback necessary?
There is a competition in the market regarding higher education, and the institutional brand does not belong only to institutions any longer, but also to students. One of the opportunities for developing and shaping the brand is to continuously measure student satisfaction, evaluate their feedback related to education, so as to implement development measures to improve the quality of education. This is also the purpose of the feedback system at the University of Pécs Medical School. It is not only about receiving feedback, but it also serves as a basis for further implementations. Student feedback provides support for the development of teaching skills with the help of special workshops, pedagogical and methodological courses. Feedback is also part of the teaching requirement system, the quality of teaching is an essential part of the teaching career, as well. Feedback system increases students' responsibility, as their opinion is actually taken into account, and it also improves the ability to cooperate between students and teachers in the long term.
Who collects feedback?
One of the most important tasks of the Feedback (OMHV) Committee at the Medical School is to collect and analyse student feedback so that feedback becomes a starting point for the development of education. The Feedback (OMHV) Committee and its predecessors have been measuring student satisfaction since the 1977/78 academic year with paper-based questionnaires and surveys. This method was expanded with online and monitoring group surveys in the 2010/11 academic year. We developed and introduced a special bonus system in the 2012/13 academic year in order to motivate students to give feedback. Regarding the preparation of questionnaires, we place particular emphasis on protecting the personal data of those students who fill them out. The questionnaires are completely anonymous and not filling them out does not and cannot have negative consequences. The feedback system does not store data on who filled out any questionnaire, only records whether students filled out a questionnaire or not. Neither the Feedback (OMHV) Committee, nor lecturers, nor even system developers can connect the questionnaire to the students who filled it out.
Facts and figures:
- Data collection in 3 programmes (General Medicine, Dentistry, Biotechnology MSc) and 3 languages (Hungarian, English, German)
- Based on more than 100 000 feedback every semester (Neptun feedback system), we are able to provide feedback to 500+ lecturers, 700+ practice leaders and 300+ subjects.
- More than 12 000 quick feedback every semester (POTEcho feedback system)
- Increasing quantity of feedback regarding summer practises and practises during rotational year
Main elements of the feedback system:
1. End-of-semester questionnaires (compulsory and elective subjects) – Neptun feedback system
The survey can be filled out through the Neptun feedback system at the end of the semesters, students can rate all their compulsory and elective courses, as well as their lecturers. The survey includes all lectures in all three teaching languages completed during the semester. The questionnaires appear on the first working day after the exam period, and they are open to be filled out for two weeks. Students who fill out all questionnaires on time regarding compulsory lectures are rewarded, they can start signing up for exams one day earlier in the next exam period. They do not need to give feedback on elective courses to be rewarded. Students, who decide to be inactive the following semester, should also fill out the questionnaires, because they can save their reward for their active semester. The completion rate has been about 80% for years. Subject coordinators are able to use student feedback to initiate improvements, and these changes must be noted in the course descriptions.
2. Quick feedback after lectures – POTEcho feedback system
Students have the opportunity to give instant feedback right after the end of the lecture with the help of the POTEcho feedback system during the whole semester. The automated platform lets instructors get immediate access and check the feedback of their lectures, so they are able to respond to suggestions and feedback next time. POTEcho feedback system contributes to development, strengthens dialogue and cooperation between lecturers and students.
3. Feedback on practical training
Feedback (OMHV) Committee also pays special attention to the evaluation of summer practises and practises during rotational year. Students in all programmes (Hungarian, English, German) have the chance to fill out questionnaires related to practical training. Results are summarised in repositories on the intranet, which not only provides feedback to lecturers and departments, but can also be useful for students to choose practical training in the future.
4. Enrollment questionnaire
In cooperation with the Marketing and Communications Department, by completing a questionnaire available for first-year students, students can also obtain an exam discount, so they can start signing up for exams one day earlier in the next exam period.