As explored in Section 2.5 the biggest negative consequence in relation to students is the perception that academics pay no attention to their comments (Chen & Hoshower, 2003; Kember, Leung and Kwan, 2002). Their lack of belief in the feedback system stems from the apparent lack of change as a result of their input (Abbott et al., 1990 [1]), which may be more a factor of the failure to close the feedback loop than inattention to their comments (see Section 5).

As a consequence students’ become increasingly disenfranchised and more cynical towards the process (Spencer & Schmelkin, 2002), limiting the quality of the information provided and, depending on how data are used, posing a serious threat to individual academics.

An additional negative outcome cited by Algozzine et al. (2004) comes from the following quote from Platt:

“I cannot think that the habit of evaluating one's teacher can encourage a young person to long for the truth, to aspire to achievement, to emulate heroes, to become just, or to do good. To have one's opinions trusted utterly, to deliver them anonymously, to have no check on their truth, and no responsibility for their effect on the lives of others are not good for a young person's moral character. To have one's opinions taken as knowledge, accepted without question, inquiry, or conversation is not an experience that encourages self-knowledge.” (Platt, 1993, 33-34)

Back to 6.4 Continue to Section 6.4.2 Back To Section 6