Academic Standards and Quality

Overview of departmental Student assessment of modules and teaching (SAMT)

The following principles apply to department-based SAMT:

• Scope

  • Each module must be assessed at least once every three years it is run. 
  • Modules may be assessed more frequently at the discretion of the Head of Department or equivalent.
  • New modules and modules which have been revised significantly must be assessed in the first two years after approval or revision and at least once every three years thereafter.
  • All students registered for a module should have the opportunity to respond to the module survey, and responses must be anonymised.

• Method

  • Departments may choose to use a single questionnaire for all modules or to allow variation.  Where the method of assessment varies from module to module, the module director must seek the approval of the Head of Department for the format and content of the questionnaire before at the beginning of the academic year;
  • Teaching-related questions should be incorporated into the Student Assessment of Modules process.
  • A timetable has been produced to help with the dissemination of SAMT's.

• Reporting

  • The Head of Department should receive a written report from the module director on the outcomes of the assessment, including details of any changes to be made to the module as a result of the survey.
  • The Staff/Student Liaison Committee should receive a summary report on the annual student assessment of modules, in order to inform students of the action resulting from each individual module survey.
  • The Head of Department must ensure that the outcomes of SAMT are considered as part of Annual Review of Courses.

• Confidentiality

  • SAMT generates raw and processed data and different levels of confidentiality apply to these forms of data.  Students’ responses to SAMT questionnaires represent raw data which should be confidential between the member(s) of staff teaching on a module, the module director and the Head of Department.  Processed data, such as reports written about the outcomes of SAMT , which will form  part of the Annual Review of Courses process.  Such reports should be so formulated that there is no need for them to be confidential and should be disseminated in accordance with the requirements set out in the timetable for SAMT.  
  • SAMT questionnaires include questions about the quality of the module and the quality of teaching.  Particular attention should be given to maintaining the confidentiality of data relating to the quality of teaching by individuals.  The detailed responses of students should be available only to the individual teacher concerned, the module director, who may be responsible for supervising a team of Graduate Teaching Assistants taking classes, and the Head of Department.

• Monitoring

  • The primary responsibility for ensuring that department-based SAMT is being carried out in accordance with Senate policy rests with Heads of Department or other teaching units.  Faculty Education Committees will receive reports on the annual SAMT exercise as part of its review of Annual Review of Courses Reports.

Page last updated: 16 August 2013