Enhancing Student Voice: Developing the Student Feedback Loop, a practice-based case study
Keywords:
Student Voice, Feedback Loop, Student FeedbackAbstract
In response to persistent challenges surrounding student engagement and feedback in higher education, this practice-based case study explores the development and implementation of a comprehensive Student Voice Framework at the Adam Smith Business School, University of Glasgow. Amidst sector-wide concerns around the visibility, authenticity, and impact of student feedback, the school initiated a review of its feedback mechanisms, including course evaluations and Student-Staff Liaison Committees (SSLCs), with the goal of closing the feedback loop and enhancing student participation. The introduction of updated evaluation tools, improved communication strategies, and student-led SSLCs, alongside the piloting of Student Advisory Panels, marked a shift towards more inclusive and dialogic practices. Central to this initiative was the development of a four-stage feedback loop - Ask, Analyse, Implement, Communicate - designed to ensure transparency, accountability, and sustained improvement. This case study suggest that meaningful engagement with student voice requires structural support, cultural change, and continuous dialogue between staff and students, highlighting the need for institution-wide collaboration to overcome systemic barriers and to ensure student feedback receives genuine consideration.
Downloads
References
Bovill, C., Cook‐Sather, A., & Felten, P. (2011). Students as co‐creators of teaching approaches, course design, and curricula: Implications for academic developers. International Journal for Academic Development, 16(2), 133–145. https://doi.org/10.1080/1360144X.2011.568690
Canning, J. (2016). Conceptualising student voice in UK higher education: four theoretical lenses, Teaching in Higher Education, 22(5), 519–531. https://doi.org/10.1080/13562517.2016.1273207
Carey, P. (2012) ‘Student engagement: stakeholder perspectives on course representation in university governance’, Studies in Higher Education, 38(9), 1290–1304. https://doi.org/10.1080/03075079.2011.621022
Carless, D., & Boud, D. (2018). The development of student feedback literacy: enabling uptake of feedback. Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education, 43(8), 1315-1325. https://doi.org/10.1080/02602938.2018.1463354
Cook-Sather, A. (2006) ‘Sound, Presence, and Power: “Student Voice” in Educational Research and Reform’, Curriculum Inquiry, 36(4), 359–390. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-873X.2006.00363.x
Dickinson, L., & Fox, A. (2016). Who owns the student voice?. The Journal of Educational Innovation, Partnership and Change, 2(1). Retrieved from https://www.journals.studentengagement.org.uk/index.php/studentchangeagents/article/view/233
Fielding, M. (2001). Students as radical agents of change. Journal of Educational Change, 2(2), 123-141. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1017949213447
Fredricks, J. A., Blumenfeld, P. C., & Paris, A. H. (2004). School Engagement: Potential of the Concept, State of the Evidence. Review of Educational Research, 74(1), 59-109. https://doi.org/10.3102/00346543074001059
Gibbs, B., & Wood, G., (2023) How can student partnerships stimulate organisational learning in higher education institutions?, Teaching in Higher Education, 28(7), 1551-1564. https://doi.org/10.1080/13562517.2021.1913722
Healey, M. (2014, February). Students as partners in learning and teaching in higher education. In Workshop Presented at University College Cork, 12(1), 15.
Matthews, K.E. and Dollinger, M., 2023. Student voice in higher education: The importance of distinguishing student representation and student partnership. Higher Education, 85(3), 555-570. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10734-022-00851-7
Morris, D. Beyond Satisfaction. Student Voice, Student Engagement, and Quality Learning (2018). In R. Ellis & E. Hogard (Eds.), Handbook of Quality Assurance for University Teaching (1st ed.). Ch. 23. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315187518
Office for Students. 2024. National Student Survey 2020 Core Questionnaire: Student Voice. Accessed 22nd September 2024. https://www.officeforstudents.org.uk/media/oldauzlm/annex-a-nss-2024-full-questionnaire.pdf
Seale, J. (2009). Doing Student Voice Work in Higher Education: An Exploration of the Value of Participatory Methods. British Educational Research Journal 36(6), 955-1015. https://doi.org/10.1080/01411920903342038
Young, H., & Jerome, L. (2020). Student voice in higher education: Opening the loop. British Educational Research Journal, 46(3), 688-705. https://doi.org/10.1002/berj.3603
Sun, X & Holt, D 2022, Student engagement and voice in higher education: students’ perceptions, Journal of Learning Development in Higher Education, 23, 1-21, Article 838. https://doi.org/10.47408/jldhe.vi23.838
Takhar, S. (2024). The Student Voice: Decolonising the Curriculum. Equity in Education & Society, 3(2), 114-129. https://doi.org/10.1177/27526461231192671
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:a. Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
b. Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
c. Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See The Effect of Open Access).