Student Feedback and Assessment

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Student Feedback and Assessment
Introduction It was not prompt and it didnt
help Peter Chalk Academic Leader, Undergraduate
Centres, LondonMet

• HEA-ICS Workshop - April 10th 2008
• London Metropolitan University

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2006 2007 National Student Surveys
The figures in this table are for students at
universities and colleges in England.
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What do students think?

• From NSS (England 2007)
• 81 satisfied overall with their experience, but
• 62 with assessment/ feedback, the lowest
  category
• Questions 7, 8, 9 Feedback prompt, detailed,
  helped (53, 58, 53 respectively i.e. the
  lowest scores)

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It was not prompt and it didnt help
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The other side

• Evidence that students arent engaging with
  feedback either
• They dont read it
• They dont understand it
• They dont use it
• Gibbs Simpson 2002

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1. Prompt and timely feedback

• One of several initiatives at LondonMet
• Higher Education Orientation module formative
  assessment early in first semester
• Reflective self-evaluation in PDP
• Module tutor can refer student to their Personal
  Academic Adviser or to the Learning Development
  Unit

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2. Early return of marked course work

• Shorter semesters - late deadlines can mean no
  feedback before exam
• Students Union requested that annotated course
  work should be returned
• New procedure agreed for course work with
  deadline before week 9 mark plus annotation to
  be given back in class

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3. Scan feedback return on-line

• Problem feedback often written on course work
  cover sheet but not marked until module has ended
• Cover sheet copies returned to students, often by
  collection from office or u/g Centre, but often
  not collected
• Solution? Proposal scan cover sheet and store in
  student record/portal
• Link to electronic PDP in future? VLE feedback?

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Record feedback return online

• I use freeware called Audacity to record audio
  comments on group coursework for two modules (one
  at undergraduate level and one at postgraduate
  level).
• The audio files were uploaded on Weblearn and
  access to each file was given only to the group
  members by using the selective release tool.
• The feedback from students has been positive.
  (Volpe 2008)

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4. Feedback personal development (action)
planning

• Personal Development Portfolio (PDP) includes
  sections for action planning based on feedback
  and results
• PDP related assessment and completion linked to
  core spine modules at levels 1 (HEO), 2
  (Employability), 3 (Project)
• Opportunity to discuss with Personal Academic
  Adviser in u/g Centre

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Problems with engaging students

• From Millar Handley, Oxford Brookes study and
  Gibbs Simpson 2002
• Students dont read their feedback
• Students dont understand their feedback
• Students dont use their feedback

How?
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5. London Mets University Assessment Framework

• Published June 2004 (www.londonmet.ac.uk/capd/reso
  urces)
• Advice on feedback included
• certain kinds of feedback can draw attention
  away from the learning task (Sims-Knight
  Upchurch 2001), and
• Negative feedback can de-motivate.
• Therefore start end positive, suggest actions,
  be explicit, give examples

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Additional Framework points

• Feedback linked to purpose diagnostic/
  formative/ summative
• SENLEF (Student Enhanced Learning through
  Effective Feedback) Project (LTSN) feedback
  principles
• Facilitates reflection/ dialogue, clarifies
  expectation, provides opportunities, quality
  information, motivate, shape teaching

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Feeding forward

• Feedback may be too late to make a difference,
  key could be feeding forward
• Phased course work, or opportunity to discuss and
  re-draft
• Peer feedback can be useful, encourage study
  groups
• Large classes summary, pro-formas, CAA
  (computer aided assessment)

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Student engagement with feedback how improve?

• Feedback often not read or understood (Lea
  Street 1998 references in Framework document)
• Note raise in class
• Submit drafts
• Feedback without a grade read more carefully
  (Black William 1998)
• Self-assess
• Provide grade after feedback completed
• Staged formative assessment (Cooper 2000)

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6. Law department exam feedback

• Not published, information by email (Mills 2008)
• individual feedback on exams after their results
  are published
• Uses benchmark and blank feedback forms
• extended office hours and allocated individual
  feedback days
• after exam, many of us then put these generic
  answers on our Weblearn sites (together with the
  question papers)
• Tracking shows most widely used part of VLE
• Should actual scripts and feedback forms be given
  back to students?

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7. MSc Student Assessment

• London Met Liverpool Hope
• Write Now CETL CAPD
• Includes module on e-Assessment
• Delivered assessed on-line, feedback via VLE
• Targeted at HE staff, add on to PGCE
• Starts in 2008/9 modular
• www.writenow.ac.uk/mscassessment.html

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MSc Student Assessment modules

• Theory and Philosophy of Assessment
• Assessment for Learning
• Rethinking Assessment A Critical Approach to
  Contemporary Practice
• Researching Assessment
• Writing for Assessment
• E-Assessment
• Quality Assurance in Assessment
• Negotiated Learning

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MSc Student Assessment aims

• enable participants to experience a variety of
  assessment methods from a students perspective
• peer and self-assessment will be included
  alongside tutors as assessment sources, thus
  integrating formative feedback from a variety of
  sources and are considered essential to develop
  self-directed learning and sustainable
  assessment
• good assessment and feedback practice modelled
  in the programme

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MSc Student Assessment outcomes

• Develop scholarship in assessment and enable HE
  educators to
• systematically apply assessment methods that are
  underpinned by evidence
• challenge existing practices from an informed
  theoretical understanding
• conduct research in student assessment
• enhance the participants employability in the
  field of learning and teaching in higher
  education.

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8. Continuous assessment means continuous feedback

• Continuous assessment has a bad name, associated
  with instructional method, and with overloading
  students, but
• Can mean continuous feedback
• Using a weekly log (cf science labs), MCQs
• Was used on a first year programming module
  action research project with apparent success
  (Chalk et al 2005, thanks to F Culwin LSBU) in
  Business School (weekly graded exercises on-line,
  Holley Andrew 2007)

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Online feedback

• Advantages
• Involve peer feedback, e.g. using IM (chat)
• Teacher feedback (a)synchronously, stored and
  shareable online just in time feedback?
• Use internet to seek feedback
• Disadvantages
• Possible plagiarism, problem of authentication
• Staff resistant to perceived 24/7 expectations

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References

• Black, P William, D (1998) Assessment and
  classroom learning, Assessment in Education,
  5.1, 70-74
• Chalk, P, et al (2005) Introducing a virtual
  learning environment and learning objects into
  higher education courses, Internat. J. of
  Learning Technology 1.4, 383398
• Cooper, N J (2000) Facilitating learning from
  formative feedback in level 3 assessment.
  Assessment and Evaluation in Higher Education,
  25.3, 279-291.
• Gibbs, G. and Simpson, C. (2002) Does your
  assessment support your students learning?
  Milton Keynes Open University.
• Holley, D Andrew, D (2007) An Approach to
  Continuous Assessment Students enjoying their
  assessment experience! BbWorld Europe
  Conference, Nice, France 27/2/07

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References (continued)

• Lea, M Street, B (1998) Student writing in
  higher education an academic literacies
  approach, Studies in Higher Education, 23.2,
  157-172.
• London Metropolitan University (2004) University
  Assessment Framework, accessed 26.2.08
  www.londonmet.ac.uk/capd/resources
• Mills, T (2008) personal communication.
• SENLEF (undated) Student Enhanced Learning
  through Effective Feedback, accessed 26.2.08
  www.heacademy.ac.uk/ourwork/learning/assessment/se
  nlef
• Sims-Knight, J E and Upchurch, R L (2001) Whats
  wrong with giving students feedback?,
  Proceedings of the American Society for
  Engineering Education Annual Conference.
• Volpe, G (2008) personal communication.