Abstract
<p>Online anonymous Student Evaluation of Teaching (SET) surveys have become ubiquitous in higher education and contribute to occupational stress associated with teaching roles. Still, there is a paucity of research exploring SET from the students' perspective. This study explores 36 Australian undergraduate students’ perception of (i) the motivations for students providing non-constructive and vexatious statements in SET, (ii) the impact of SET on teaching staff, and (iii) how SET could be improved. Students from three regional universities were recruited for nine focus group discussions. Three themes were developed through reflexive thematic analysis: (i) Motivations, Barriers, and Perceived Impact: Participants reported anonymity facilitated non-constructive and offensive statements, lack of transparency and reduced meaningful participation, (ii) Bias, Misuse, and Emotional Toll: Participants recognised that SET processes were biased, lacked validity and were sometimes intentionally used to cause harm to teaching staff (iii) Structuring Constructive, and Accountable Feedback: Participants suggest timing changes, education, artificial intelligence filtering and identifying informants who abuse the SET process to ensure quality and accountability. Participants echo concerns raised in the literature from academics about the validity and reliability of anonymous SET and identified potential strategies that might enhance the value of SET.</p>