Abstract:
The paper reports on a study that explored selected lecturers’
perspectives and discourses on a university’s Student Evaluation of
Teaching (SET) policy in South Africa; particularly what the policy
prioritised in terms of purpose and evaluation processes. It also
reports on the lecturers’ reflections on the additional questions
they included in the self-designed evaluation tools. A questionnaire,
informal group conversations, and extended observations were
used to collect data, and Latour (2005). Reassembling the Social: An
Introduction to Actor-Network Theory. Oxford University Press and
Latour (2013). An Inquiry Into Modes of Existence. Translated by
C. Porter. London: Harvard University Press works helped make
sense of the lecturers’ perspectives and discourses. Findings
indicate a partial grasp of what the SET policy promotes. Lecturers’
understanding seemed to emphasise teaching evaluations’
professional development and accountability functions. Little
attention was paid to the context in which teaching and learning
occurred. The conclusion suggests ways in which the guidance
given to lecturers could be improved to help them understand
and work more effectively with their university’s SET policy.
