Cultural meaning of course evaluation among nursing students and faculties in Korea

Background: Course evaluations have been used widely in universities without studying how they are perceived in different cultural backgrounds. Purpose: The purpose of this study was to explore the perception of course evaluations in nursing schools in Korea from both students' and faculty's perspectives with a consideration for their cultural background. Design: An ethnographic approach was used to explore the meaning of course evaluations in a cultural context. Settings: Participants were recruited from four nursing schools in urban and rural areas of Korea. Data: Data were acquired from individual and focus group interviews, course evaluation tools, a course evaluation diary, and debriefing notes. Methods: Data were analyzed using a five-step approach suggested by Roper and Shapira. Findings: Faculty changed their attitudes concerning course evaluations from negative to positive over time, while students maintained a negative attitude. Unique features of the nursing curriculum and nursing training were identified as influencing factors. Both the faculty and students made useful suggestions to create more meaningful course evaluations. Conclusions: A means to reconcile the gap in course evaluation perceptions between faculty and students is necessary. Evaluating systems and tools need to be developed with a consideration to particular disciplinary characteristics and cultural backgrounds.