It seems logical to collect feedback on students’ experience on a module or programme upon its completion, to allow time to experience it as a whole, reflect on experiences, and provide a considered response. As Richardson (2005) states, it makes sense to see student feedback at the end of a particular module or programme of study.

From a summative perspective this rationale holds fast – for example, a student cannot be expected to comment on all aspects of the assessment procedure if they have yet to sit their end of term exam, frequently the largest contributor to their final assessment grade.

However, by waiting until this point to gather feedback could be regarded as unethical (McKeachie & Kaplan, 1996), since this deprives students the opportunity to benefit from any changes made to teaching/the module/programme as a result of their input.

Back to 7.2 Continue to Section 7.4 Back To Section 7