Author Information
Binganidzo Muchara, University of South Africa, South AfricaSanele W. Nhlabatsi, University of South Africa, South Africa
Abstract
This study explores how business schools solicit feedback from postgraduate students on their course learning experiences. Traditionally, the feedback that students provide on a specific course has been framed within a client-service model that emphasises customer satisfaction over knowledge development as a contributor to national economic development. Often reducing complex learning experiences to simplistic transactional/satisfaction metrics. This study argues that this approach can lead to a misalignment between sustainable education goals and student expectations by undermining the true value of education derived by the student as an agent of change towards sustainable economic growth. Through a qualitative analysis of existing evaluation instruments that students are requested to complete, this study examines the quality of student feedback practices across multiple universities that offer business education. The commonly used feedback instruments are critiqued, suggesting alternatives that emphasise student growth, critical thinking for economic impact, professional development, and improvement of the course design and delivery for the future. Arguing for a shift of the structure and approach of course evaluation instruments from a transactional evaluation to a reflective practice, focused on learning as a catalyst of sustainable business education. Although the study acknowledges that feedback alone may not contribute to overall course progress, the findings underscore the need for business schools to adopt feedback mechanisms that recognise students as co-creators of knowledge and contributors to their learning communities for sustainable impact. As such, redesigning the structure and style of feedback forms is critical to ensure that students provide more effective course feedback.
Paper Information
Conference: ACEID2026Stream: Learning Experiences
This paper is part of the ACEID2026 Conference Proceedings (View)
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To cite this article:
Muchara B., & Nhlabatsi S. (2026) From Transactional Evaluation to Reflective Learning Practices: Postgraduate Student Feedback as a Catalyst for Sustainable Business Education ISSN: 2189-101X – The Asian Conference on Education & International Development 2026 Official Conference Proceedings (pp. 351-366) https://doi.org/10.22492/issn.2189-101X.2026.29
To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.22492/issn.2189-101X.2026.29
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