Student feedback about teaching and courses is important

Aalto University's AllWell? student well-being survey is open annually to all second-year bachelor's students and first-year master's students. About 4,700 students receive the survey every February, of which about half have answered it in previous years. The survey aims to support well-being themes in teaching. Students are not meant to get exhausted under their studies, nor to be too self-critical. Since these risks have been identified, the aim is to prevent them becoming a reality by various actions.

At the end of the survey, the student answering the survey receives personal feedback on, for example, stress management and how they can improve they own study skills. The survey is answered anonymously, and individual answers cannot be identified when processing the results. At the School of Business, this is one of the most important channels for students to give feedback on their own programme and the university's services in general. Every answer to the survey helps Aalto University and its programmes develop their operating methods. This year, the survey can be answered from 1 to 14 February 2024.

The 2023 AllWell? results are handled with care

It has been reported from many programmes at the School of Business that their students have participated in interpreting the results of the 2023 survey and choosing measures. (Student association) KY's educational policy representatives and the welfare representative have also been involved in the process. Both answering the survey and the participation of student members in processing the results are very important in the AllWell? process.

The programmes have defined their own measures based on the responses to the AllWell? survey. In a few programmes, new areas for improvement were selected compared to the previous year. These include, for example, the development of the master's programme orientation day and, in some programmes, the improvement of cooperation between academic and subject organizations.

‘In the programme of the orientation day, we have tried to communicate more clearly than before about the expectations in master's level studies. In addition, we organized group work for the students, where they reflected on last year's AllWell? results and how they themselves would react if they received a bad grade for an assignment or the whole course. In the second phase of group work, students think about individual and community ways to maintain well-being in stressful conditions,’ says Marjo-Riitta Diehl, director of the People Management and Organizational Development master's programme.

In general, students are told every year what has been changed in the teaching and courses based on the feedback received. The aim is to communicate to students more clearly than before, for example, what kind of feedback they can expect to receive during the course.

According to Alli Mattila, a study psychologist at Aalto University, last spring's AllWell? results show that many students also have experience of not belonging to the group and lacking peer support.

‘It is excellent that many programmes have tried to contribute to increasing community spirit with their actions. It should be invested in a lot in the future because it is not only our basic psychological need, but also a significant factor in maintaining study motivation.’