Assessment Careers Principles for Action on Feedback

DRAFT for discussion

The Assessment Careers project aims to review and enhance assessment feedback so that students are able to use feedback both immediately to enhance current work and for longer-term development throughout their programme of study. The project team have developed a set of principles which have informed pilot work on encouraging students to take action on feedback across a programme.

The purpose of the principles is to stimulate discussion about feedback practice and gain agreement on the values and aspirations that will underpin IOE policy and practice in future.

This draft of the principles is for discussion with students and both professional and teaching staff at the IOE. Five programmes have piloted and developed these principles and evidence from these pilots will be presented at the Teaching and Learning Conference and made available to staff in a set of pilot reports and Moodle exemplars.

Each principle is accompanied by a rationale which is informed by the literature and some examples of existing practice at the IOE.

Feedback for a successful assessment career:

1. Encourages learners to take responsibility for their learning and become self-reliant

Feedback is not only given it must also be received and acted upon by learners. To be able take action, they need to understand the frame of reference of the assessor including tacit and explicit assessment criteria and standards,but not by being over-dependent on the assessor for corrections.

Peer and self review can be used for these activities with appropriate guidance from tutors.Reviewing the work of self or others puts students in the role of assessor and helps clarify not only assessment criteria but also more tacit disciplinary requirements. Systematic self-review helps students develop their ability to self-critique.

Example 1:Students are provided with a space on the assignment submission form to request feedback for both draft and final work. They are given support on how to request useful feedback.

Example 2: Students share each other’s work online and give peer feedback on set tasks. Students have reported that the act of giving feedback to peers helped them to understand both the assessment criteria and the quality of their own work.

2.Enables students to address performance goals in both the short-term and longer-term

Students must understand how they can apply critique from one task or assignment to the next if they are to apply feedbackas part of their learning.

This means that feedback must address skills and processes and meta-learning (learning to learn and self-assessment) and not only content.In other words there should be a good balance between feedback that addresses specific module assessment criteria and feedback that addressesdisciplinary and generic attributes and skills.

Example 1: Students are provided with a) critique on the current piece of work and advice on how to improve it in the short-term, and b) suggestions or prompts for improving meta-learning that will help with future assignmentstoo such as developing general research and writing skills.

3.Encourages dialogue (peer to peer and teacher-student)

Dialogue with assessors and peers helps students to clarify feedback and be able to take action.Assessors and/or peers can initiate dialogue by asking direct questions to the student.If a systematic method is set up so that students can respond to feedback or questions, then the conversation can continue.

Example 1: Students complete a reflection on their previous feedback and state how they have addressed it using an online assignment submission form. A dialogue continues either in person or electronically as assessors comment on the actions students have taken and assessors suggest future action or goals if necessary.

Example2: Feedback from peers or tutorscontains questions and prompts reflection rather than provides answers.

4. Demonstrates that learning and feedback are cumulative over time

In a modular scheme it can be difficult for both learners and tutors to judge a learners’ progress across a programme other than by referring to module grades, but grades do not give a detailed picture. When students build on previous learning in a structured way, student progress or any concerns about progress can be made visible.

Assignments which buildupon previous assignments give students opportunities to act on previous feedback.Both learners and assessors can use this information to judge the next steps, and if difficulties are not being addressed from one module to the next, then this can be picked up early on.

Example 1:Masters Dissertations do this when a Research Methods module is used directly to develop a dissertation proposal using feedback.Example 2:Students list feedback points from previous modules and identify actions taken using an assignment submission form. They receive further feedback on the progress they are making in addressing this previous feedback.

5. Iscrafted and balanced to motivate students in terms of praise, recognition of progress, critique and actions for future development

The Assessment Careersproject has produced a tool which categorises feedback into:

praise;
comments on progress (ipsative feedback);
critique;
advice for the current or future assignments;
questions/requests for clarification.

Each category of feedback has a different purpose and both assessors and students need to be clear on the motivational effects of feedback in different contexts. The tool can be used to analyse samples of feedback by ranking the different categories in order of frequency of use to give individual or team feedback profiles. The appropriate balance between the different types of feedback can be discussed between programme teams and with students. For example, students may like praise but they find advice and questions more helpful.

Example 1:A programme teamheld a meeting to discuss research on feedback and the limited effectiveness of praise. The teamnow plans to increase the amount of advice relative to praise that they provide for students.

6.Encourages time on learning throughfrequent formative assessment opportunities which are designed into the programme

Formative assessment is essential for learning as it focuses student time and attention on appropriate learning activities and leads to greater achievement. Students will benefit if they receive formative feedback early. Formative feedback on draft assignments may not be submitted until well into a module, butearly formative activities can be designed into modulesto encourage students to spend time preparing for the assignment task. With appropriate guidance the feedback can be from peers.

Example 1:Students write a 500 word fragment which could form part of a longer assignment and discuss this with peers or a tutor. They then apply feedback to enhance this piece of work or to write for a longer assignment.