Student Evaluation of Teaching surveys: do students provide accurate and reliable information?

Purpose- This paper explores patterns of students' response behaviour of international students studying in an Australian university when filling out student surveys evaluating lecturers and courses. The study focuses on whether information obtained through the survey process can be relied upon to make management decisions. Design/methodology/approach- Data for this study was collected from the Student Evaluation of Teaching and Student Evaluation of Units surveys of 74 students across four different classes at a university campus in Australia which caters education solely to international students. The data was analysed using both descriptive and econometric analytical methods. Results / findings- The results of the study seem to suggest a reasonable level of diligence is lacking on the students' part in answering the surveys, raising a concern about the reliability of information. This tendency seems to be prevalent among all students irrespective of their gender and nationality. Implications- This study raises issues with respect to the execution process of student feedback surveys and stresses need for a careful consideration of the use of the survey information in making various management decisions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]