Doing course evaluation as if learning matters most

This paper investigates barriers for using course evaluation as a tool for improving student learning, through the analysis of course evaluation practices at The Royal Institute of Technology (KTH), a technical university in Stockholm. Although there is a policy on development‐focused course evaluation at KTH, several stakeholders have expressed dissatisfaction with its poor results. Interviews were conducted with faculty and student representatives to investigate the perceived purpose and focus of evaluation and its current utilization. Results show that evaluation is teaching‐ and teacher‐focused. As course development is not in the foreground, evaluations merely have a fire alarm function. It is argued that course evaluation should be regarded as a component of constructive alignment, together with the intended learning outcomes, learning activities and assessment. Finally, the concept system alignment is proposed, extending constructive alignment to the institutional level. The evaluation task can generally be said to be: 1. to describe what actually happens in that which seems to happen 2. to tell why precisely this happens, and 3. to state the possibilities for something else to happen.   (Franke‐Wikberg & Lundgren, 1980, p. 148)