YourVoice: student feedback

An intuitive platform for capturing feedback from students
YourVoice web app hero banner image

What is YourVoice?

The YourVoice app was developed to offer students a simple method of providing feedback on various aspects of teaching. Students can give feedback on any session or workshop, and when gathered, the feedback is anonymous.
Students like the app as it is rapid, responsive and intuitive – requiring no barrier to access, no big forms and no deadline to complete by. It is there for the students to use and to facilitate change 24/7.
Staff like the app as it requires no administration in use – feedback capture shouldn’t be complex and time-consuming. YourVoice captures feedback concisely and consistently. Staff have instant access to their feedback where data can be searched, filtered, prioritised and exported so they can respond to the feedback as defined by them and not the app.

How is YourVoice used?

The app launched in 2015 and was initially developed to aid the ‘You Said We Did’ feedback process. It has since been enhanced to become a widely used feedback capture method within the Faculty of Health.
The main draw from the app for staff in receiving feedback is how it allows for rapid change or discussion with students. Staff have commented that they were able to make positive changes to their course mid-term, instead of potentially discovering something at the end of the year from other survey methods.
Using a digital method helps with administrative tasks for the most part, but also assists with the speed of access, accessibility and intuitiveness, which can encourage use. Furthermore, this tool can be signposted from related teaching and learning services such as the Digital Learning Environment (DLE). Therefore, students can quickly provide feedback alongside their learning resources or other online activities.

Feedback categories

YourVoice provides the following five core categories on which students can give feedback:
1) Learning resources
2) Teaching quality
3) Assessment and feedback
4) Academic support
5) Organisation and management
Additionally, the app uses a happiness indicator, which takes the form of emojis. This allows for a fast and straightforward method of providing feedback intent and acts as another measure of satisfaction.
iPad and iPhone combined screenshot

Testimonials

“I have been using the YourVoice app for the past two years within a 1st year nursing module that I lead on. It has provided a very accessible platform for students to tell us in real-time how they have found aspects of the module. I have been able to request specific feedback about specific pedagogic tools being used on the module through to progressive feedback. The weekly email digest has enabled me to succinctly share with the team and to students via the DLE. This feedback is built into annual module reports and future module design. It is great to see it being developed further to provide an even more accessible feedback platform.”
Jo Boote
Lecturer in Mental Health Nursing
"YourVoice has been an invaluable communication tool, enabling students to provide rapid feedback and for staff to see their effort appreciated or to respond to issues in a timely and effective manner."
Dr John Chilton
Lecturer in Biomedical Sciences
“Thank you very much for providing the YourVoice app. It has saved a LOT of time. If I want to evaluate something, I simply ask students to sign into to YourVoice and leave feedback there. It is very quick, there is little admin, no paperwork and the results are sent through to me. An addition lately has been how YourVoice is linked to our assessment database 'Pulse'. This is amazing – rather than cut and paste feedback from an email say into my professional portfolio, I can see at a glance all my feedback over the years. This is useful (well some of it) in PDRs etc.

Using YourVoice as a whole school system also simplifies feedback gathering – we all speak the same 'feedback language' and are relying less and less on bespoke handmade forms. This reduces the feedback burden for students too. Moreover, the mid-range feedback that YourVoice provides can be tied in with university feedback collection systems such as the NSS or the SPQ. For example, if there is negative feedback in one of the broad surveys, we can drill down into YourVoice feedback – I think more should be made of this.”
Dr Tracey Collett
Associate Professor Peninsula Medical School (Faculty of Health)
“The Your Voice app has made it easy for students to write feedback spontaneously, increasing the quantity of feedback we receive. The feedback is overwhelmingly positive, providing a morale boost to staff and showing that students value their efforts. It’s also been a good way for students to communicate small niggles, such as sound quality and uploading presentations before sessions.”
Dr Karen Johnstone
Associate Professor of Genetics and Genomics
Closeup shot of an unidentifiable hacker using a cellphone in the dark