The motivation for conducting SET will be the most influential factor in the evaluation’s focus, structure, method, timing, results, and consequences.

As detailed in Section 3 feedback can largely be categorised as being used for formative or for summative purposes. Based on terms from Black & Wiliam’s (1998) work in assessment an awareness of the distinction has been identified as ‘crucial’ to improving teaching (Laverie, 2002).

Formative SET refers to feedback gathered for its originally intended purpose of improving teaching and learning or some aspect of the module or course, while summative SET uses feedback for more administrative reasons, such as quality assurance or personnel/resource decisions. An overview of this distinction is provided below: