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Academic Quality and Partnerships

End of Semester Module Evaluation Questionnaires

Module evaluation questionnaires (MEQs) are an opportunity for students on taught courses to provide feedback on their experience of the individual modules they have taken. These short evaluations take place online in Sussex Direct at the end of the module. MEQs are a useful way of providing information to:

  • assist tutors to reflect on their module design and teaching;
  • encourage course participants to reflect on their own learning and to help inform module choice;
  • inform monitoring of modules, particularly at departmental level, in order to guide academic developments.

There are seven core questions in the MEQ followed by two questions which ask students to provide written feedback on the best aspects of the module and what could be improved for the module.   If you are unsure of who provides administrative support for MEQs within the School, please contact the School Administrator.

Guidance for staff and students has been produced and is available on the following pages:

Students will be invited to complete the questionnaire towards the end of the module. The spring term questionnaire will be open for completion between 19 April 2021 and 10 May 2021.  

To complement these end-of-term questionnaires, module convenors are encouraged to gather informal mid-module feedback. For more detail on this please visit our mid-term feedback webpage.

The frequently asked questions below provide further information about MEQs.

1. When do MEQs take place?

It is only possible to evaluate modules at the end of their occurrence. However, modules running over more than one term may be evaluated during the course of the module using other methods (e.g. via focus groups).

2. What are the core questions in the Sussex MEQ?
  • It was clear to me what I would learn, why and how
  • The materials on Canvas were useful and relevant
  • The recommended reading lists were appropriate and up to date
  • I have received feedback on my work (including queries after teaching sessions, in person, or by e-mail) which may have helped my understanding/clarified things I didn't know, helped explain a grade, or identified areas for improvement
  • Clear information about the the assessment of this module and the marking criteria, was provided.
  • Teaching accommodation and facilities were satisfactory.
  • Overall, I was satisfied with this module
3. How are the questions measured?

The core questions are measured on a 1-5 scale as follows:

1 = strongly disagree

2 = disagree

3 = agree

4 = strongly agree

4. How is the MEQ completed?

The MEQ is completed online through Sussex Direct. Students will see a message on their Sussex Direct homepage.   Summary results for all modules are also published through Sussex Direct. All responses are anonymous.

5. What if the wrong MEQ is completed?

Once the MEQ is completed there is little that can be done. In exceptional cases comments may be withdrawn.

6. What information gets published in Sussex Direct?
  • Students do not see the cohort's responses to every item on the MEQ. Students see results for the seven core questions only.
  • The comments entered by the Module Convenor about the feedback received from students are included in the MEQ summary for the module.
  • Anyone with access to Sussex Direct can view the MEQ summary and convenor comments for any module.
  • The University considers that a response rate of at least 50% is desirable in terms of providing representative data. In terms of publication of results, there is no lower limit on response rate, other than that determined by the minimum number of responses required. If the response rate achieved for a particular module is lower than 50% then a message indicating that results should be treated with caution will appear alongside the MEQ summary displayed to students.
  • Please note that students' written responses are NOT published.
7. How do students view MEQ results?

Log into Sussex Direct and click on the Searches tab, Directories, Module Directory. Use the Module Directory to find the correct module. Remember to select the correct academic year i.e. 19/20 and then click on the Module Evaluation radio button.

If results for a particular module cannot be found this may be because the minimum response rate was not met.

8. Why are MEQ summaries published in Sussex Direct?

Publishing through Sussex Direct ensures that all students receive this digest and that individual departments do not have to analyse their MEQs. The average score for each question (mean & median) and the frequency of responses is published.

9. What effect does the response rate (% of the cohort who completed the MEQ) have on the results?

Achieving a representative response rate is very important to have confidence in the results of module evaluation. What is considered to be a representative response rate varies with the overall size of the cohort (the larger the cohort, the lower the response rate required). As a general benchmark, however, the University considers that more than half the students on a module should complete the evaluation for results to be representative of the cohort. Please note that there is no lower limit on publication in relation to the percentage response rate. If the figure is lower that 50% for a module, then Conveners may choose to flag this in the comments section. If a module does not achieve this response rate the results should be treated with caution.

10. Why do Convenors comment on the MEQ results for their modules?

A low student response rate is often connected to the fact that few students benefit directly from the evaluation they have given on a particular module and many students doubt whether their evaluations are taken seriously. Students want to see that their views matter and are taken into account for future cohorts.

If you cannot see comments from the Convenor then it is likely none have been added.

11. What happens with the resullts of the survey?
The MEQ results and convenor's comments will feed into the department's annual monitoring process - the Annual Course Review. This looks not only at MEQ results, but includes the outcomes of peer observation of teaching and external examiner reports. MEQ data are important, but are only one element in a holistic evaluation of the quality and development of courses and modules. The other aspects include the National Student Survey (NSS), external examiner reports and peer observation of teaching. The MEQ can provide staff of the department or school with an indication of the relative contributions of different modules to performance on other survey instruments.