“What Did You Learn?” - An Alternative Narrative Approach to Student Evaluations of Teaching

TL;DR

This study explores using student narratives instead of traditional questionnaires to evaluate teaching in medical education, focusing on learning outcomes rather than teaching quality.

Contribution

The paper introduces a narrative approach to student evaluations that shifts focus from teaching to perceived learning outcomes.

Findings

Student narratives provided insights into learning activities, environment, outcomes, and professional development.

Teachers found the narratives useful for understanding teaching effectiveness and appreciated the focus on learning.

The approach was seen as beneficial for both students and teachers despite being time-consuming.

Abstract

In medical education, student evaluations of teaching (SETs) are commonly used as part of the quality assurance system. There are, however, concerns about the usefulness of traditional questionnaire-based SETs, as they have been found to correlate with factors unrelated to teaching quality. This article explores potential benefits of using an alternative method, shifting the students’ focus from evaluating the teaching to examining perceived learning outcomes.

In 2023, we invited third and sixth year medical students at the University of Bergen, Norway, to write a reflection on their learning outcomes after completing a four days communication course and a two days consultation course, respectively. The 179 narratives were analysed qualitatively with a focus on what students chose to highlight, and how their reflections shed light on the quality of teaching. We also invited four teachers to read the students’ texts and report back on the usefulness of this approach to SETs.

Based on systematic text condensation we found that student narratives provided insights into learning activities, learning environment, learning outcomes and learning to be a doctor. The teachers advocated that producing the narratives might be beneficial for the students’ learning. They also valued the change in focus from teaching to learning, and the comprehensive information this approach to SET provided.

Our findings suggest that, although the narrative approach to SETs is time-consuming, it provides the teachers with insight into the effectiveness of their teaching. Moreover, asking students to reflect on their learning outcomes may also benefit students.