A System of Student Feedback: Considerations of Academic Staff Taken into Account

As a consequence of the suspension of a system of yearly evaluations of individual courses with student questionnaires, the University of Leuven organised a broad consultation of the academic community focussing on what they expect from a system based on student feedback. The study revealed that this community attaches great importance to a clear definition of the goals of student feedback, improvement and accountability, and a logical translation of these goals into a concrete approach. The study also confirmed the need of academic staff for a concrete response to the importance they give to quality improvement and enhancement besides accountability.     

Narrative analysis as philosophical research: Bridging the gap between the empirical and the conceptual

There is a longstanding debate about what can be expected from philosophy of education and what its place can be in educational theory. A remarkable resemblance can be found between the debate about the usefulness of qualitative research methods and the kinds of insights they produce. The debate between proponents of empirical (quantitative) research and of qualitative research can be traced to the opposition between the need for understanding and the desire to manipulate. We argue that empirical qualitative research is of a similar nature to philosophical research, its aim being mainly to understand a human practice. We offer a framework that allows the clarification of what may be expected from an educational science and consequently from qualitative research methods: taking as one?s starting point human experience, providing comments, and thus trying to open the eyes of others to particular human realities.     

'The Poem's Invitation': Ricoeur's Concept of Mimesis and its Consequences for Narrative Educational Research

After the presentation of different views on the relation between narrative and life it is argued that Paul Ricoeur's view offers a framework that allows an answer to questions that remain unanswered in the work of MacIntyre and Carr. Although Ricoeur's view has its own flaws, the concepts of triple mimesis and of narrative identity can be incorporated in a post-foundationalist view. Within this resulting frame of reference narratives in narrative research are interpreted as compositions, as the result of emplotment. Thus the characteristics of a narrative apply to the participant's stories, to personal identity and to the researcher's narrative.     

A System of Student Feedback: Considerations of Academic Staff Taken into Account

As a consequence of the suspension of a system of yearly evaluations of individual courses with student questionnaires, the University of Leuven organised a broad consultation of the academic community focussing on what they expect from a system based on student feedback. The study revealed that this community attaches great importance to a clear definition of the goals of student feedback, improvement and accountability, and a logical translation of these goals into a concrete approach. The study also confirmed the need of academic staff for a concrete response to the importance they give to quality improvement and enhancement besides accountability.