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The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) is privileged to have invited Prof. Herbert W. Marsh, Professor, Department of Education, University of Oxford, as a guest speaker for the University’s 50^th Anniversary Distinguished Lecture. Professor Marsh will present a lecture on ‘Student Evaluation of University Teaching: Recommendation for Policy and Practice’ next Tuesday (2 July) on campus. Members of the public are welcome and admission is free. Online registration is now available at www.50.cuhk.edu.hk/en/events/Herbert_Marsh. The lecture will be conducted in English. 

Prof. Herbert Marsh will share his views on ‘students’ evaluations of teaching effectiveness’ (SETs), which has been the topic of consideration interest and a great deal of research in universities all over the world. Although SETs have a solid research base stemming largely from research conducted in the 1980s, it is surprising that research conducted in the last decade has not done more to address critical limitations previously identified and incorporate exciting methodological advances that are relevant to SETs research. One of the observations is that the use of SETs is for personnel decisions rather than on improving teaching effectiveness. Also, it is opined that the feedback from students is potentially demoralized to academics without more fully implementing programmes to improve teaching effectiveness. Professor Marsh will discuss the usefulness of SETs as part of a programme to improve university teaching and the necessity to conduct more intervention studies on SETs. 

Professor Herbert W. Marsh holds a joint appointment at the Centre for Positive Psychology and Education at the University of Western Sydney and at the University of Oxford. He is an ‘ISI highly cited researcher’ with 340 publications listed in the World of Science with more than 18,000 citations, and an ISI-H-index = 69, and recently achieved a Google Scholar H-Index of 100. He founded and directs the Self-concept Enhancement and Learning Facilitation (SELF) Research Centre that has 450 members and satellite centres at leading Universities around the world, and co-edits the SELF monograph series. He coined the phrase substantive-methodological research synergy which underpins his research efforts. His major research or scholarly interests include self-concept and motivational constructs; evaluations of teaching effectiveness; developmental psychology, quantitative analysis; value-added and contextual models; sports psychology; the peer review process; gender differences; peer support and anti-bullying.  He was a Wei Lun Visiting Professor of CUHK.