Assessment and feedback

I recently went to the Blackboard on Tour event in London which was largely based around assessment and feedback – there was an interesting presentation given by Grainne Hamilton on the topic which regardless of the implications for using Blackboard learn brought up (or more accurately, caused me to revisit) some interesting ideas about feedback and assessment and how we approach it in a HE environment. We were asked to decide which three of the following principles we thought were most important.

My choices were:

• ·         Opportunities to act on feedback
• ·         Develop self assessment and reflection
• ·         Encourage positive motivational beliefs

Not necessarily in that order…

Here is why.

Encouraging motivational beliefs is for me probably the most important on that list as, if done effectively, could be the 1^st step to promoting self directed learning and reflection by fostering  student ownership of their own learning. If, as a marker or assessor, in whatever capacity your feedback isn’t positive andmotivational in the sense that it encourages students to study further, it will not be effective. It may even be damaging as a student who is not motivated is far less likely to succeed. Of course feedback should not be entirely about saying ‘well done you are brilliant’, this will not help them think critically about what they have written and improve on it but equally it is important to balance criticism however constructive with some praise. If you are not told you have done something well you may not necessarily have the confidence to do it again. 

Encouraging positive and motivational beliefs leads neatly into the idea of developing self assessment and reflection, ultimately when they leave HE students are going to be in the workplace and the process of self assessment and reflection becomes a lot more important because there will be no faculty member looking at what they are doing and providing feedback. Self assessment and reflection is not a process that comes naturally to most people so it is part of the duty of an HE establishment to create a positive environment where students are encouraged and helped to develop these skills. 

At the end of the day however feedback positive, motivational or otherwise will achieve nothing if it falls on the proverbial deaf ears. The only way feedback can really enable students is if they are given time to act on it. This is something that is often lacking, especially in HE summative assignments may be marked and commented on and returned to students but there is little incentive to read and engage with that feedback as the assignment has been completed. Giving feedback on drafts and building into the process a requirement for self reflection is one way to help students engage and make allow them to develop self reflection skills. This is something I have been working on so watch this space. 

Making a choice of three important principles, however well justified, is all well and good and saying students must act on feedback and engage with is an excellent theory but on some level as a teaching institution we have to provide them with the skills and a framework which enable them to do that or it becomes a little bit like handing someone three skittles and instructing them to juggle. At the very least they are going to get a headache!