Animated process-transparency in student evaluation of teaching: effects on the quality and quantity of student feedback

Low response rate and quality are common challenges when administrating student evaluations of teaching (SETs). This study aimed to increase SET response rate and quality by investigating a widely recommended strategy to overcome an underlying reason for students’ non-responsiveness, namely the lack of transparency about SET processes. In Study 1, we tested first-year students’ faith in SET before and after watching an animation that illustrated the SET process. Study 2 consisted of a quasi-experiment in an authentic setting among third-year students in which faith in SET, response rates and response quality were compared between students who were shown the animation versus a control group. Results showed that using an animation to increase transparency of SET processes increased students’ faith in SET in both Study (d = 0.60), and Study 2 (d = 0.29). The response rate on the Likert-scale questions in end-of-course surveys increased after the animation (Cramer’s V = 0.16), but no significant effects were found on response rates and quality on the open questions in the same survey (all p’s > 0.05). Further research and discussion are needed on how, and which, feasible interventions can help to improve students’ SET participation, such as offering guidance on how to provide feedback.