Therefore, this paper seeks to give a background and an overview of the study only. Two separate, though not unconnected areas of literature are relevant to this study, that on student evaluations of teaching, and that on good teaching. Most studies consider particular aspects - reliability and validity of questionnaires, biases which might occur, etc. It is not the focus of this study to examine these areas, other than to note that the consensus of opinion is that student ratings are generally valid, reliable and free of bias. Evaluation, however, is always seen as the last step in the process.
Few studies look at what happens after the evaluation.
In the tomes of literature that exist on evaluation of teaching and in particular on student ratings, there is a dearth of information on the next step in the process. The ultimate purpose of any student evaluation of teaching system is the improvement of teaching, and implicit in that is the improvement of student learning. A prerequisite condition for teachers to make improvements to their teaching as a result of student feedback is that they consider student opinion worth listening too. When students give feedback to a teacher they are sharing their perspectives of the unit and teaching they have just experienced. This study aims to investigate a situation in which students may feel more included in that process, specifically by examining what happens when teachers give feedback to students on the pedagogical decisions they have taken as a result of the feedback student have given to them.