Student Voice a “Powerful Informer” of Business & Management Education Transformation, Says New Explorance Report

London, UK – February 24, 2022 – A new report by Explorance entitled ‘Feedback Matters: Business and Management Education Focus Report’ is set to provide fresh insight on the role of the student voice. Published today, this report outlines ways that the Student Voice can deliver transformational business and management education.

Representing the first edition of the ‘Feedback Matters’ series, this report explores how student feedback, including feedback gathered via course and module evaluation surveys, directly influences institutional enhancement. This first edition is specifically a Business and Management Education Focus Report.

Delivering in-depth insight from experts in business schools, university-based business, and management faculties around the world, the report also shares the strategies underpinning student insight approaches and the differentiated approaches to capturing and responding to student feedback.

Additionally, the report outlines specific challenges and how these are being addressed.

Featuring best practice case studies on student voice policy and practice, this report looks to  the future for teaching and learning in business and management education, including how student feedback will support this evolution.

Worldwide Academic Perspectives

The Feedback Matters: Business and Management Education Focus Report features authored contributions from senior academic and professional staff at Desautels Faculty of Management, McGill University; The University of Newcastle, Australia (Newcastle Business School); Stockholm School of Economics; University of Edinburgh Business School; and School of Business, The American University in Cairo.

John Atherton, General Manager (Europe and Africa) at Explorance commented on the report’s publication: “We help business schools, university-based businesses, and management faculties improve teaching and learning through the way they derive, analyse, and respond to student feedback.”

Commenting further, John noted: “There is a wide cross-section of expertise Explorance can draw on, from all over the world, deeply skilled in business and management education. There was an opportunity for us to support the development of this community, hence us putting together this report.”

A contributor to the report, Professor Jennifer Milam, Pro Vice-Chancellor (Academic Excellence) in the Vice-Chancellor’s Division at The University of Newcastle, Australia (Newcastle Business School), commented: “The University embarked upon a cultural shift in how we use course and teacher evaluations to drive excellence and measure the impact of our university.

“By increasing the reliance on the student voice, the University has created a successful performance development process that encourages, nurtures and rewards individuals for their impact on their students and the wider community.”

Separately, Angela Guadagno, PhD (Academic Associate, Teaching and Learning Services), at Desautels Faculty of Management, McGill University, revealed: “McGill University has a long history of valuing student input on course evaluations, and has developed a system that allows instructors to personalise some of the questions they ask.

“We plan to continue gathering feedback from students through course evaluations, questionnaires, focus groups and midsemester feedback. Midsemester feedback is particularly valuable to instructors because it allows instructors to make changes and benefit the students who gave the feedback, rather than future students.”

Sherif Kamel, Professor of Management and Dean of the School of Business at The American University in Cairo, added: “The future of learning will continue to change, but student voice will be a powerful informer of that change.”

The Voice of Student Representatives

Student representatives featured in the report also reinforced the need for universities to take their views on board.

At the University of Edinburgh Business School, which recently implemented a new Student Voice policy, current Undergraduate School Representative Florence Barnard and former Undergraduate School Representative Pippa Gosden jointly commented: “The Business School is placing increasing emphasis on the importance of feedback in improving student experience. As a student you feel your voice is being heard. It is especially rewarding when the School listens and acts upon our advice.”

Explorance works with Aarhus University School of Business and Social Sciences, Copenhagen Business School, Emirates Institute for Banking and Financial Studies, Emlyon Executive School, ESA Business School, ESSEC Business School, Grenoble IAE, HEC Paris, IE Business School, IESE Business School, INCAE Business School, McGill University (including Desautels Faculty of Management), Montpellier Business School, Norwegian School of Economics, Presido Graduate School, Simon Business School, Stockholm School of Economics and Villanova University School of Business.

Explorance’s John Atherton added: “The report shows just how seriously the student voice is being taken and how business schools, university-based businesses, and management faculties are collecting and responding to feedback about different aspects of the experience at different points in time.

“It is also clear that student ownership and engagement is fundamental to the success of this process.”

About Explorance

Explorance helps universities and business schools improve teaching and learning through the way they capture, analyse and respond to student feedback. Explorance works with hundreds of Higher Education institutions, providing solutions for formative feedback. This includes giving lecturers the opportunity to seek feedback through bespoke, non-standard questions, during a module, and summative evaluation surveys at the end of semester that supports standardisation on questions which enables comparisons between courses/cohorts.

Explorance’s Blue People Insights Platform is generally used for end-of-term and mid-term evaluations and provides a huge amount of valuable quantitative, qualitative and demographic data.

Through Explorance’s Bluepulse continuous listening platform, we engage in feedback and the evaluation of teaching during a module – not just at the end of it. Using Bluepulse, lecturers communicate with students to gain feedback prior to end-of-semester evaluations. They can ask questions at any time, and students can give feedback at any time. It enables faculty to build teaching and learning strategies that receive a welcome response from students and because this is done in collaboration with students, results in increased participation and engagement.

 Download this Report Now