Student evaluations of teaching (SET): Guidelines for their use

Student evaluations of teaching (SET) provide a structured way of collecting feedback from students about the course and teacher's effectiveness. We reviewed literature describing use of SET across a broad range of disciplines in undergraduate and graduate education to provide guidelines for faculty in using SET in a nursing or other health professions program. On SET tools, students typically rate their satisfaction with a course and perceptions about the quality of the teaching. It is important to evaluate SET tools prior to their use including pilot testing tools with students because studies show students may not interpret items or questions on a SET tool as faculty intended. Common uses of the evaluation data from SET include improvement of courses and teaching, and for personnel decisions.