The spring semester is coming to an end soon, so the MyView questionnaire is currently being completed, now redesigned to collect student feedback in a new way. Since the new digital MyView is still under development, the questionnaire is currently filled out on paper. Our interview reveals what has changed, how this affects both students and instructors, and what happens to the completed questionnaires after submission. 

The new MyView survey was recently introduced. Why was a change necessary? 

Kata Dósa: It became timely to revise the questionnaire for several reasons. First, it had to be adjusted to align with our teaching quality development framework, which is also being revamped (the CTE 2.0 concept), and where student feedback is an important measurement tool. Second, we have received a lot of feedback on the previous version from both instructors and students. One of the most common concerns was that the 18-item questionnaire was too long. Considering students often had to fill it out for 8 to 10 courses, it was understandably a demanding task — and unfortunately, that was reflected in the quality of the responses. We hope that by addressing these issues, the number of completed questionnaires will increase. While the previous response rate of around 20% is fairly typical for online systems without direct incentives, we aim for a higher rate — not only for accreditation purposes but also to support our own educational quality assurance. After all, only with robust data can we clearly define development priorities to improve student satisfaction. 

Gergely Mészner: I can only confirm all of this from the student’s perspective. To be honest, the previous MyView questionnaire wasn’t very popular among students, even though we constantly received reminders to fill it out. That’s exactly why the Student Union fully supported the revision process and was happy to delegate representatives to the project team working on the changes. 

 What are the most important changes, and what purpose do they serve? 

Kata Dósa: The questionnaire has been shortened, which naturally required some compromises. I’d highlight three elements that were prioritized based on suggestions from Gergő and the student representation. These focus on the clarity of expectations, the comprehensibility of in-class explanations, and the instructor’s availability outside of class (items 4, 5, and 6). According to students, these are issues that come up relatively often and, when they do, they can be especially frustrating. From a quality assurance perspective, we also saw them as crucial points. On the instructors’ side, there were concerns with the previous questionnaire that some items were too subjective. The current version is based on the Critical Teaching Behaviors model (Barbeau & Happel 2023), which — as the name suggests — focuses on specific behaviors that can be learned and improved. This means the emphasis is not on the instructor’s personality but on actionable teaching practices. 

How have students and instructors responded to the new questionnaire? What feedback have you received so far? 

Gergely Mészner: I’ve spoken to several students who have filled out the new MyView, and of course, I know what my classmates think as well. Overall, they like it — they consider the shorter length a definite improvement and find the questions simpler and easier to understand. 

Kata Dósa: I’m glad to hear that because one of our main goals was to make the questionnaire more student-friendly. Based on feedback from instructors, many of our colleagues also see the new version as a step forward. Some have suggested that we could explore certain topics in more depth, but that’s not the intended role of MyView — it’s not meant for in-depth analysis. Others noted that the wording of the questions sometimes feels as if they aren’t directly about the instructor. That’s intentional: the aim is to shift the student’s focus to their own learning experience, which also helps reduce potential bias. So far, we haven’t seen any systematic or serious concerns with the new questionnaire, though of course there’s always room for refinement. That’s why we’re committed to reviewing it again in the future to see if further changes are needed. We’re fully aware that the paper-based format is not ideal, but we wanted to address the shortcomings of the previous questionnaire as soon as possible. So this is a temporary solution while the development of the digital platform is still underway. 

Why is it worthwhile for students and instructors to participate actively and conscientiously in filling out — or facilitating — the MyView questionnaire? 

Kata Dósa: With the current paper-based format, feedback is collected during one of the last two sessions of each course. Instructors are expected to provide at least 10 minutes for students to complete the questionnaire. Blank forms and envelopes are distributed by the department’s administrative office, which is also responsible for informing students and handing out the materials. During the completion, instructors step out of the room to ensure anonymity. This means that, compared to previous years, instructors now play a more active role. For them, participating is worthwhile because they can receive meaningful feedback from their students, feedback that can be integrated into their teaching practice. As for the students, we’re working on designing a well-thought-out incentive system, though I can’t share specifics just yet. What I can emphasize now is that the data they provide feeds directly into program development and the performance evaluation of instructors, so their contribution has real impact. 

Gergely Mészner: That’s a key point — if students can see and understand that their feedback has a purpose, they’ll be more inclined to fill out the MyView. At the same time, I believe participation would definitely improve if students were offered some form of direct incentive. Still, I see it as a positive that in the current setup, students are given dedicated time during one of the final sessions to complete the questionnaire. 

What happens to the questionnaires after they are filled out? 

Kata Dósa: The initial processing of the completed questionnaires is done by a software tool, which fortunately performs quite well even when reading open-ended, text-based responses. After this, the data is handed over to our educational analytics colleagues for further analysis. It’s a complex process, but the outcome is a deeper understanding of teaching practices from the students’ perspective. All relevant stakeholders receive the information they need, including the instructors themselves. So the end result is the same as before, it just takes longer now due to the current paper-based format. 

Gergely Mészner: At this point, I’d like to highlight that students have a clear demand to access the feedback as well. From the perspective of encouraging participation, this is an important issue: students would be more willing to complete the questionnaire, even in digital form, if there were feedback loops that allowed them to see the results. 

Kata Dósa: That’s a completely valid point, and it’s one of our medium-term goals in developing the digital version of MyView. There is a clear intention to ensure that students also have access to the evaluation results. 

Where does the development of the digital MyView currently stand? 

Kata Dósa: Hopefully, from the next semester onward, MyView will return in digital form — though initially via a web browser. A dedicated mobile app for MyView is also in the works, which would allow students to complete the questionnaire more conveniently through a responsive mobile interface. However, that will be the result of a longer-term development process.