SET for students
SET is a short survey about your courses and the teaching within them. Fill out the survey to help teachers and University leaders address issues and improve courses for future students.
What does SET stand for?
Summative Evaluation Tool.
Do I have to complete evaluations?
No. The completion of evaluations is voluntary. However, feedback from students is really important to enable us to improve courses and teaching, so please consider spending a few minutes to help enhance the learning experience at the University for all students.
How many evaluations will I need to complete?
You will receive a SET evaluation request for each taught course you are in enrolled in, each semester. The SET evaluation will include questions about the course and about each of your teachers.
How do I know I have an evaluation to complete?
You will receive an email with a list of evaluations due for completion. The email will have a link through to the SET system. You will also be able to see evaluations due to be completed under the SET Evaluations tab in your Canvas course. If you receive the notification and reminder emails, but could not find SET Evaluations, please contact your Course Director and/or Lecturers and ask them to make SET Evaluations visible in Canvas. Your teachers may make an announcement when evaluations open.
How do I complete an evaluation?
Access your evaluation via the link in the email sent to you or via the ‘SET Evaluations’ menu item in Canvas.
When you access your evaluation, you will be asked to answer one question on the course and one for each of your teachers by selecting a rating on a scale. There are also 'open-ended' questions that allow you to enter comments about the course or the teaching.
You may save an evaluation in progress and return to complete it at a later date during the evaluation period. Please remember to SUBMIT your evaluations, or they will not be counted.
What are the scaled questions?
The course evaluation question is:
- Overall, I was satisfied with the quality of this course.
The teaching evaluation question is:
- Overall, [teacher name]'s teaching was effective.
There will be a separate question for each teacher in the course. The scale runs from "Strongly Disagree" to "Strongly Agree", with options in-between.
What are the open-ended questions?
For the course evaluation these are:
- Overall, what aspects of the course were most helpful for your learning?
- Overall, what did you find most challenging about learning in this course, and do you have any suggestions for improvements?
For the teaching evaluations, these are:
- What was it about [teacher name]'s teaching, that you found most helpful for your learning?
- What suggestions do you have that would enhance [teacher name]'s teaching?
These questions are optional. You can comment on all aspects of the course or the teaching which are important to you. Please remember to give useful and appropriate feedback.
How do I provide useful feedback?
When providing to the open-ended questions, please remember to:
- keep your language appropriate
- be specific about issues
- focus on the course or the teaching aspect, not the person
- try to be constructive.
See: Providing effective feedback. You can also refer to the University's Code of Conduct.
What if I could not see my teacher in the evaluation?
If your teacher is a tutor or Graduate Teaching Assistant (GTA) they are not eligible for a SET evaluation.
If you want to give feedback on a teacher who is not in SET, you can talk to your class reps and ask them to pass on your feedback anonymously.
Tutors may ask you for feedback using a different survey tool. This is not part of SET but your feedback will be valuable to them.
What if I cannot find my course evaluation?
Not all courses will be evaluated via SET. As of 2024, courses need to meet the following eligibility criteria:
- Enrolment greater than or equal to 10 students
- Course code does not end with A/U/V/X/Y
- Primary Graded Component (PGC) is one of: LEC, LAB, SEM, STU, TUT, ONL, TBL
In addition to these criteria, sometimes faculties opt out of SET because the timing of the evaluations does not fit the course dates. In all of these cases, the course should be evaluated using a Qualtrics survey. Reach out to your class reps or your lecturer and ask about ways to provide feedback.
How is my feedback kept confidential?
Responses of individual students remain confidential. Students' usernames and/or names will never be identified in reports, and are never given to your teachers.
Are there any exceptions to confidentiality?
The student’s identity may be revealed in cases of inappropriate, offensive, abusive or threatening comments or if the comments cause a concern for a student’s welfare. In such cases a student’s identity may be released in confidence to the University Proctor or an Academic Head with the approval of the Pro Vice-Chancellor Education. Subsequent investigations will follow the procedures outlined in either the Addressing Bullying, Harassment and Discrimination Policy and Procedures or the Statute for Student Discipline.
Should I report inappropriate behaviour from teaching staff via SET?
No, SET is not the right place to report if any member of staff behaved inappropriately towards you or a fellow student. Please refer to the guides for cases of harmful sexual behaviour and bullying, harassment and discrimination, respectively. If you (or another student) are emotionally distressed or in need of support, you can contact Counselling services or Te Papa Manaaki | Campus Care. You can contact AUSA Advocacy for support and assistance in any matter. If your concern is not covered by the above, please contact the University Proctor.
What if I read the scale wrong and submit the wrong ratings on my SET evaluation?
Unfortunately, once the evaluation has been submitted your response may not be changed. Please ensure that you check your evaluation carefully before submission.
Contact
In the first instance please contact your Course Director and/or Lecturers with any questions about SET evaluations for your courses.
SET course and teaching evaluations are managed by the Academic Quality Office in the Office of the Vice-Chancellor. Any further queries may be directed to the Evaluation Coordinator, quality@auckland.ac.nz