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| # Feedback Page history last edited by Ros Smith 1 week, 4 days ago Feedback provides information to learners about where they are in relation to their learning goals, so that they can evaluate their progress, identify gaps or misconceptions in their understanding and take remedial action. Generated by tutors, peers, mentors, supervisors, a computer, or as a result of self-assessment, feedback is a vital component of effective learning. In the last few years as a result of poor results nationally for assessment and feedback in the National Students Survey (NSS), feedback has become the focus of campaigns (for example the NUS Feedback Amnesty (2008-2009) and the University of Strathclyde’s Feedback is a Dialogue), which draw on educational principles defining the nature of effective feedback. Among these, Gibbs and Simpson (2003) identified 11 conditions under which assessment can support effective student learning, seven of which relate to tutor feedback ie the quantity, quality and timing of feedback given to learners. Nicol and MacFarlane-Dick (2006) later highlighted the role of feedback in establishing learner self-regulation, enabling learners to generate feedback for themselves by developing their capacity to monitor and adjust their own learning. The REAP principles subsequently drew on these two sets of principles to focus on empowerment and engagement of learners through feedback. These principled-based approaches to feedback have helped clarify what feedback should aim to achieve. Feedback should for, example: Clarify what good performance is Facilitate self-evaluation Deliver high-quality feedback information Encourage peer and teacher dialogue Encourage positive motivation and self-esteem Provide opportunities to close the gap Use feedback to improve teaching However, students still have to be able to deconstruct, internalise and act on their feedback if improvement is to take place. One way of achieving this is by giving feedback to one another. Through peer assessment and review, learners have the opportunity to develop the skills of appraisal their teachers have acquired through assessing their work (Sadler 2010). Despite the clear link made between the quality of feedback and the effectiveness of learning, the Jisc Assessment and Feedback projects in their baseline research found many weaknesses relating to feedback and formative learning in their institutions: the focus of effort was more likely to be on summative than on formative assessment, there were deficiencies in the consistency and quality of feedback received by students, and curriculum staff were often unaware of approaches that could improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the feedback they provide. ### What do we know about technology and feedback? Although technology is not the only answer to feedback issues, the affordances of different technologies offer advantages over traditional handwritten feedback, especially when used at scale. Feedback delivered electronically is more likely to be legible and therefore read by students; studies also suggest it is more likely to be retrieved and reviewed at the time of the next assignment (see, for example, findings from the University of Glamorgan’s Assessment Diaries and GradeMark project). Significantly, technology has helped staff apply the principles of good feedback in their practice in ways that are not burdensome. For example, a simple technology that provides timely feedback without adding to tutor workload is electronic voting systems (EVS), a handheld, instant response technology that enables students and tutors to check levels of understanding before, during and after a lecture or group activity. Any subsequent learning activity can then be adjusted in the light of the feedback received, thus providing opportunities to ‘close the loop’. Automatic feedback received from VLE-based quizzes and computer-marked formative assessments in QuestionMark Perception similarly enable students and staff to monitor progress and make prompt adjustments. Reflective technologies such as blogs, e-portfolios and learning journals offer a different kind of benefit by prompting students to devote time to considering their feedback. Such technologies can equally provide a non-threatening way of giving feedback to peers, an important step in enhancing one’s own understanding and skills. In addition, when dialogue is introduced into the equation as in comments added to blog posts, students develop the kind of skills they need in the world of work, such as eliciting explanation from experts and giving constructive feedback to peers. Both activities help make feedback a more active process: ‘…while the quality of the comments is important, the quality of the students’ interaction with those comments is equally and perhaps more important.’ (Nicol 2010) There is an increasing body of support for audio- or video-recorded feedback. While students often find spoken feedback more intelligible and personal, the technology may have an impact on the quality of the content. A blog entry from the FASTECH project in the Jisc Assessment and Feedback Programme suggests that spoken feedback may be more constructive than written feedback: Gaston (2013) has recently found that there are less negative comments given with audio feedback and that tone moves towards more constructive phraseology such as “ I would have like to have seen more of X,Y,Z” or “I really like the way you have done this….”. I find with my own audio feedback that this is definitely the case. I become much more nurturing in tone and less academic and formal.’ While it is important to recognise that the success of initiatives to introduce these technologies depends on developing familiarity and confidence in their use, the advantages gained can greatly surpass the initial investment of time and effort. ### What is the evidence of benefits and impact? From a number of studies it is possible to say that technology benefits students by providing easier access to their feedback and by enabling feedback to be more detailed and personal. It also benefits curriculum staff by providing more effective ways of engaging students with the feedback they give and by saving time and effort once a technology is mastered. More innovatively, it can also enable curriculum staff to analyse the type and depth of feedback they give to students so that inconsistency can be rectified. Early evidence of the benefits of audio feedback for students was demonstrated by the Sounds Good project in the Jisc Users and Innovation Programme and by the COWL and Duckling projects in the Jisc Curriculum Delivery Programme. The experience of receiving audio feedback was shown to be richer; tutors expanded on salient points, varied the tone, pitch and pace of the voice and added humour which built rapport and opened the door to further dialogue. At the same time, there were efficiency gains for tutors, although to some extent these came from not having to repeat key points. Instead, common errors were dealt with by a single recording delivered to all students. Technology, however, often comes with a confusing array of options. To assist new adopters of audio feedback, different types (audio-only, asynchronous audio-visual, and synchronous audio-visual) were explored by the Optimising Audio Feedback Assisted Learning for Student and Staff Experience project in the Learning and Teaching Innovation Grants strand of the Jisc e-Learning Programme to see which would give optimal returns without overburdening the assessor. The project concluded that the best methodology depended on the type of assessment and the preference of students. Although it may not have saved time in the short-term, audio feedback became a more enjoyable process for tutors, and students were more likely to replay feedback when preparing for their next assignment. Harnessing the community building potential of technology to engage learners in feedback was the purpose of the Jisc ASSET project. This enquiry evaluated the use of audio and video casts within a Web 2.0 context to provide high-quality, timely feedback with elements of feed forward. The project concluded that Web 2.0 technologies provide a new forum for learners to interact with one another in relation to the feedback they receive. Tutors could also engage with students within these 'feedback-related communities' to close the feedback loop. Projects exploring technology-enhanced feedback in the Assessment and Feedback Programme have continued to demonstrate advantages for students and tutors. FASTECH, for example, notes that: Students have fewer opportunities to evade feedback if recorded as audio files Audio clips can be integrated into electronic marking by screen capture software to explain more complex processes EBEAM demonstrates that the efficiency of online assignment handling and marking systems enables students to retrieve feedback more easily and apply it to subsequent assignments A further potential benefit from electronically stored feedback is the ability to access feedback given over a period of learning. The Assessment Careers project has used Moodle to enable tutors and students to obtain a longitudinal view of progress by drawing on previous feedback stored in the VLE. ### Look out for Tools to assist tutors in auditing and analysing their feedback have been the focus of a number of projects in the Jisc Assessment and Feedback Programme. Drawing on Brown and Glover (2006), t he FACT method developed by the e-FEP project, for example, enables tutors to analyse the amount and depth of feedback they have given on the strengths and weaknesses of an assignment. The tool also enables variations in the feedback given in different media and on different types of assignment to become visible. Assessment Careers has developed a feedback profiling tool to facilitate a better balance in feedback comments with guidelines for its use. Such initiatives are placing feedback auditing on the agenda of many curriculum teams so that imbalances or inconsistencies in feedback can be scrutinised in a similar way to the grades awarded. Also see Feed forward. ### Where can I find out more? A useful compilation document at Assessment and Feedback Principles summarises a range of assessment and feedback principles. Links to webinars given by the eFEP, SGC4L, OMtetra, Assessment Diaries and EFFECT projects contain insights into work on feedback. Gibbs, G., Simpson, C. & Macdonald, R. (2003) Improving student learning through changing assessment NUS Feedback Charter Nicol, D.J. & Macfarlane-Dick, D. (2006). Formative assessment and self-regulated learning: A model and seven principles of good feedback practice. Studies in Higher Education, 31(2), 199-218 Re-egineering Assessment Practices in Higher Education (REAP) resources University of Strathclyde, Feedback is a Dialogue: Advice for Students Also on the Design Studio: Assessment and Feedback resources on the Design Studio (a round-up of resources from the Curriculum Design and Delivery programmes) Wider resources on assessment and feedback (links to non-Jisc sources of guidance on feedback) ### Return to Assessment and Feedback Topics # Feedback
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