SETs (Student Evaluation of Teaching): Lessons to learn from differing biases of Chinese and UK students

Resumen

Student Evaluations of Teaching (SETs) have become somewhat controversial tools for involving students in improving the education process, promoting quality assurance, and providing metrics to compare courses and teaching. They are thus, unsurprisingly, one of the most researched areas of higher education. Among small cohorts with a significant variety of cultural backgrounds, validity of evaluation tools may be confounded. This mixed-methods case study took place in the context of foreign language learning at a UK university with 117 language learner survey participants, seven also participating in a diary exercise, to explore a potential confounding variable on SETs in survey form - that of student cultural background. Student attitudes and biases were examined in the light of previous research showing differences between Eastern and Western psychological biases. Results in this educational context support a clear cultural difference between two groups that were compared in this study: Chinese and UK students. Key differences identified were in participants’ choice to focus on positive or negative experiences and to what they attribute these experiences. Implications for incorporating SETs as part of course and lesson design are outlined.