Course Evaluations in German Higher Education Institutions: State of the Art, Proposal for a Definition and Future Trends

Various practices of teaching feedback are currently being implemented as one important element of the uprising teaching related quality management systems in German higher education institutions. Despite their increasing use, several doubts and reservations remain on the levels of definitions, methods and practical implications. One reason for these reservations can be found in a lack of agreement on behalf of how exactly to design and implement those instruments and procedures used for teaching feedback. The present article identifies six major dimensions of design features for teaching feedback. On this theoretical base, N = 19 questionnaires used in the German speaking higher education area were being assessed by means of content analysis. Results prove that there is a surprisingly wide concordance between the different approaches. Using the combination of those features typically found, a definition of "course evaluation" is being presented as a specific and systematic way of carrying out teaching feedback. As a conclusion, future trends for course evaluations in the context of quality management for study programmes are being outlined.