Australian higher education and the Course Experience Questionnaire: insights, implications and recommendations

Australian universities are faced with increased pressure from the government and other stakeholder groups to demonstrate the quality of their activities. The Course Experience Questionnaire (CEQ) provides a valuable source of data about student satisfaction regarding the courses that they study at Australian universities. It provides a body of data which is collected systematically at the national level, and has been shown to be a stable, reliable and meaningful measure of course satisfaction. The CEQ data have become increasingly important in institutional performance evaluation, however, not without controversies. The current review provides valuable insights into the CEQ methodology, comments on its significance and usage and highlights some of its major limitations. It also suggests possible means of improvement of the CEQ, imperative towards quality teaching, learning and evaluation in the Australian higher education system.