Perspectives and discourses on teaching evaluations in a South African university

Figures & data

Figure 1. The different aspects of the SET policy and their relationship.

Table 1. Representation of participants across the faculties.

Teaching experience	Engineering	Commerce	Humanities	Science
0–3 years		3	2	2
4–7 years	3			1
7 years & above		4	2

Table 2. Different phases of the data collection process.

Date	Research activities
July 2018–October 2018	Administering the questionnaire and analysing responses
August–mid-October 2018	Reading, making notes and reflecting on the questionnaire responses.
From March 2019 to May 2019	Devoted to analysing the lecturers’ additional questions in self-designed SET tools and conducting 2 informal group discussions as the first phase of conversations
July 2019–October2019	Observing lecturers SETs
Mid-October 2019–March 2020	The second phase of informal individual conversations of observation notes

Table

Attending lectures	H	M	L
Attending tutorials
Reading in preparation for lectures
Asking questions or making comments in lectures
Reading in preparation for essays
Participating in tutorial discussions
Asking questions or making comments in lectures
Discussing lecture, tutorial or essay topics with
Classmates outside class hours
Visiting libraries
Downloading academic journal articles from the internet
Making use of course readings
Making use of internet sources
Reading articles and chapters carefully and all the way through
Reading further out of interest, beyond what the course requires
Making extensive written or typed notes based on lectures, tutorials or readings
Recording lectures or tutorials

Table

Gaining an understanding of the main questions and issues dealt with in the course	H	M	L
Acquiring a knowledge of the main theorists and theories referred to in the course
Acquiring knowledge about the main lines of controversy or debate in the literature referred to in the course
Gaining an understanding of strengths and weaknesses of existing literature
Acquiring tools of analysis that can be employed in better understanding the world around you
Improving writing skills
Improving argument presentation skills
Acquiring greater confidence about expressing views

Table

Yes

No

Maybe

Don’t Know

Table

It’s required
They’re helpful
They’re interesting
They cover material not in the readings
I had nothing else to do
I just did

Table

The lecture times were bad
I had other commitments
I couldn’t get to campus:
I forgot to attend/forgot the lecture times
I was sick
I didn’t find the lectures useful or valuable
I didn’t understand the lecturer
I just didn’t

Table

I am happy with my lecture attendance
I am happy but I could have attended more lectures:
I am happy and I attended just as many as I needed or wanted to
I am unhappy and could have attended more lectures than I did
I am unhappy but I couldn’t have attended more lectures than I did
I don’t care