Effective eFeedback

Dr Barbara NewlandCLT

February 2014

What is eFeedback?

UK context – EMA with a focus on eFeedback

What is good Feedback?

Rationale - what are the benefits of eFeedback?

Methods

Examples

Summary

Overview

Electronic Management of Assessment (EMA) definitions

eSubmission electronic submission of an assignment

eMarking electronic marking (including offline marking eg in Word)

eFeedback electronic feedback (ie text, audio, video but not hard copy

eReturn electronic return of marks

Plagiarism deterrence and detection

To identify current practice with regard to Electronic Management of Assessment (EMA) in UK HE

To gain a snapshot of the strategic overview identifying key issues relating to strategic change, policies and practices

To reflect on longitudinal developments from findings from 2011 – 2013 surveys

UK EMA survey

A network of senior staff in institutions engaged in promoting, supporting and developing technology enhanced learning

Over 138 nominated Heads from UK Higher Education institutions

A regular programme of well attended events

Represents the interests of its members to various national bodies and agencies including the Higher Education Academy and JISCwww.helf.ac.uk

Heads of eLearning Forum (HeLF)

More positive attitudes towards EMA and its normalising within their institutions

Challenges in relation to buy-in, take up and roll-out processes, functionality, service disruption and standardisation and whether the latter is desirable and achievable.

Main findings

How would you rate attitudes to eFeedback?

Positive Negative Neutral Don't know0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

Academic staffAdministrative staffStudents

‘There has been a change in attitude towards eFeedback, with a number of members of staff recognising that they already do this in some form.’

An urgent sector-wide agenda. Usage has moved from individual early adopters to more widespread, formalised use. For many institutions it is increasingly becoming embedded in departmental practice

Interest is growing because of the perceived value, benefits and efficiency

A common student expectation

Increased perception from staff that most if not all marking will have to move in this direction ‘it's becoming accepted as the norm.’

However, a very small proportion of respondents report no, little or slow moving change in attitudes.

Increasing use of eFeedback

Is the move to eFeedback leading to more standardisation in terms of the feedback provided?

University-wide

Department-wide

Neither

Trend towards greater standardisation driven by pedagogic concerns and desire to provide consistent user experience and increase student satisfaction.

The introduction of a set of marking standards is happening in some universities with technology providing the framework in which this can happen. Eg rubrics in Grademark

However, there are also differences in opinion:

‘Different subject areas want to provide different types of feedback so we will never have standardization across all disciplines.’

Standardisation

What are the benefits of good feedback? In general, not specifically eFeedback.

Why do we give feedback?

Sadler – 3 conditions necessary for students to benefit from feedback in academic tasks. The student must know:

1. what good performance is (i.e. must possess a concept of the goal or standard being aimed for);

2. how current performance relates to good performance (for this, students must be able to compare current and good performance);

3. how to act to close the gap between current and good performance.” (Sadler, 1989)

Benefits of feedback

1. helps clarify what good performance is (goals, criteria, expected standards);

2. facilitates the development of self-assessment (reflection) in learning;

3. delivers high quality information to students about their learning;

4. encourages teacher and peer dialogue around learning;

5. encourages positive motivational beliefs and self-esteem;

6. provides opportunities to close the gap between current and desired performance;

7. provides information to teachers that can be used to help shape the teaching. (Nicol, 2006)

Good feedback practice

11 conditions identified under which assessment supports student learning – 7 about feedback.

Quantity and timing of feedback Sufficient feedback is provided, both often enough and in enough detail The feedback is provided quickly enough to be useful to students

Quality of feedback Feedback focuses on learning rather than on marks or students themselves Feedback is linked to the purpose of the assignment and to criteria Feedback is understandable to students, given their sophistication

Student response to feedback Feedback is received by students and attended to Feedback is acted upon by students to improve their work or their learning

Gibbs and Simpson (2003)

Assessment which supports student learning

Text eg◦ Comments/track changes in student assignment using

Word◦ Comments using GradeMark in Turnitin

Audio◦ Podcasts

Video

Mobile◦ iAnnotate

Methods

Rubrics – University marking/grading descriptors

Banks of comments

Generic to whole group

Individualised

Methods

What are the benefits of eFeedback?

Pedagogical◦ Enhance student learning as feedback is more detailed and personal

Efficiencies◦ Saves time with marking and handling paper copies◦ Saves energy – “green”◦ Shareable resources◦ Tracking and auditing

Quality◦ Improves consistency, legibility◦ Easier access so more likely to be read and reviewed by students?

Marketing◦ NSS – Assessment and Feedback scores

Benefits

Technical eg click that read

Non-technical - include 2 or 3 key points and ask them to write a sentence or 2 at beginning of next assignment about how addressed them

Student engagement with feedback

“There is also a question about student expectations and preparedness for new and different forms of feedback. Students are not always sure how to interpret and use new forms like audio feedback.”

There are also concerns about who will support students in this process.

Student anxieties

JISC project http://sites.google.com/site/soundsgooduk/

1. (Without reducing the amount of feedback) in what circumstances can using digital audio save assessors’ time?

◦ The most favourable circumstances would appear to be: The assessor is comfortable with the technology. The assessor writes or types slowly but records their speech

quickly. A substantial amount of feedback is given. A quick and easy method of delivering the audio file to the

student is available.

Audio feedback

2. Does digital audio feedback improve students’ learning experience?

Students were overwhelmingly positive about receiving audio feedback on their coursework

Frequently remarked approvingly about its personal nature and the detail provided; evidence that the lecturer had carefully considered their work

A small minority of students said they preferred written feedback; a few asked for both audio and written comments on their work.

Audio feedback

3. What do assessors think of digital audio as a medium for providing feedback to students?

Strongly in favour of audio feedback

Most have clearly said that they intend to continue using it

Even if they didn’t manage to save time, several members of the team commented that they were able to give more, and higher-quality, feedback using audio, which they felt was worthwhile.

Audio feedback

4. What recommendations are there for improved practice?

How much time you eventually save will depend on various factors, including how much feedback you give and how quickly you write, type and speak.

Consider accepting a longer pay-back period. Experiment with spending more time in the short term, using audio to give your students more extensive advice and richer feedback. It may save you and your colleagues work in the long term.

Make your audio files as small as possible, so they can be sent quickly and stored economically.

Aim for the minimum acceptable sound quality for the particular purpose.

Keep the files short – don’t ‘overdo it’. Only go beyond five minutes if there is a good reason.

Make sure key administrative and quality-assurance staff accept that you are giving audio rather than written feedback.

Audio feedback

Podcasts have the potential to increase the detail and accessibility of assessment feedback, provide commentaries which students view as more personalized and understandable, and encourage a deeper engagement with the feedback information

Tutors need to be wary of providing commentaries that are too lengthy and the possible drawbacks of the reduction in written feedback

Podcasts may work particularly well when providing feedback for oral presentations, role plays, drama ‘performances’ or electronic based submissions.

Generic overview feedback podcast can help all students to situate their own performance in relation to others in the group. Generic podcasts may also be an appropriate strategy for large groups (perhaps above 40 students) when individual podcasts are not a viable option.

Podcasting is more likely to be readily accepted in modules where there is already a technology enhanced learning component.

Salmon, G (2008) Podcasting for Learning in Universities

Podcasting

When would video feedback be the most appropriate media?

Video feedback

What are the benefits of peer assessment and feedback?

Peer feedback

The requirement to submit a written draft electronically focused the students thinking. Tutors noticed that at this stage of the project groups were in general further ahead in their planning

Students appreciated being able to see what other groups were doing and assess their peers’ work.

Students’ feedback showed that they had picked up on aspects that were missing from another group’s proposal, were able to make a judgment on their own group’s proposal and realise how it could be improved.

The delivery of the peer assessment using an online tool facilitated the organisational and administrative elements of the process and gave students the flexibility to meet when they were available.

Peer assessment - benefits

 

Plan the timing and structure of the different peer assessment components. E.g. Start dates, due date deadlines and posting feedback

Clear and concise guidance and instructions to be provided ahead of time

Provide a demonstration of the online screens the students will encounter

Clearly communicate the benefits and/or skills you expect the students to gain

Provide the questions students will be answering before they take the peer assessment

The timing needs to fit in with the assignment timetable to make it relevant and leave sufficient time for students to make use of any feedback received

Participating in the peer assessment needs to be made a compulsory part of the assignment

Peer assessment – key considerations

Jake Leith and Joanna Zara in Professional Practice, Art Design and Media using peer formative feedback effectively for a Level 4 professional practice module. Student group project.

Use studentfolio to build a plan of how the group will produce a business case study report

Groups review each others plans against set of questions that match up with the assessment outcomes. Makes students aware of the assessment outcomes they'll be marked against for the final report.

Their plan and the peer feedback is then used in the group tutorial with the tutor in the following week.

Example

Effective eFeedback depends on effective feedback

Benefits:◦ Pedagogy◦ Efficiencies◦ Quality

Summary

Gibbs, G., Simpson, C. & Macdonald, R. (2003) Improving student learning through changing assessment https://www.open.ac.uk/fast/pdfs/Gibbs%20and%20Simpson%202003.pdf

JISC Design Studio (2013) http://jiscdesignstudio.pbworks.com/w/page/50193583/Feedback

Newland, B, Martin, L, Bird, A, Masika, R HeLF Electronic Management of Assessment Survey Report, 2013 http://w01.helfcms.wf.ulcc.ac.uk/projects.html

Nicol, David. and Macfarlane-Dick, Debra (2006) 'Formative assessment and self-regulated learning: a model and seven principles of good feedback practice', Studies in Higher Education, 31: 2, 199 — 218.

Rotheram, B http://sites.google.com/site/soundsgooduk/ Last accessed November, 2013

Sadler, D.R. (1989) Formative assessment and the design of instructional systems, Instructional Science, 18, 119-144.

Salmon, G (2008) Podcasting for Learning in Universities, Open University Press

Dr Barbara NewlandCentre for Learning and TeachingUniversity of Brighton, Falmer, BN1 9PH

b.a.newland@brighton.ac.uk

www.brighton.ac.uk/clt/ www.slideshare.net/barbaranewlandhttp://barbaranewland.wordpress.com/

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