Assessment Feedback to Students
Assessment feedback to students
This guidance paper offers:
1. The principles of providing feedback to students
2. A listing of practical feedback methods for both coursework and exams
3. Suggestions for cutting back on marking and feedback work load
4. The main points of Bath’s Quality Assurance expectations regarding assessment feedback to students
5. References for further information
1. The principles of providing assessment feedback to students
The role of feedback in the learning process, is to inform the student of where and how their learning and performance can be improved. Feedback on learning can come from fellow students, lecturers, staff supporting the learning process such as demonstrators, or the student themselves.
Although feedback to students is often thought of as being given in response to assessment, there are may forms of feedback on learning, which do not relate to assessment at all, ranging from feedback on work in progress (eg during lab work) to more generic feedback on effective a student is performing their studies overall (end of year study advice). This paper, however, concentrates on providing feedback on assessment, both coursework and exams.
Feedback on assessment can be given to sum up the final judgement of the quality of the students work (summative feedback), or to help the student improve their work in future (formative feedback). A further, but in HE less common form of feedback helps the student identify their aptitude and ability for a particular kind of learning (diagnostic feedback). A highly individualised form of feedback sometimes used in (performing) arts, sports, design and professional disciplines takes into account the students’ previous developments, and uses this as the starting point for assessing progress or improvement of skills, knowledge and competence (ipsative feedback). Considering best practice of providing feedback to students, the following values apply: Feedback is best
This guidance paper offers:
1. The principles of providing feedback to students
2. A listing of practical feedback methods for both coursework and exams
3. Suggestions for cutting back on marking and feedback work load
4. The main points of Bath’s Quality Assurance expectations regarding assessment feedback to students
5. References for further information
1. The principles of providing assessment feedback to students
The role of feedback in the learning process, is to inform the student of where and how their learning and performance can be improved. Feedback on learning can come from fellow students, lecturers, staff supporting the learning process such as demonstrators, or the student themselves.
Although feedback to students is often thought of as being given in response to assessment, there are may forms of feedback on learning, which do not relate to assessment at all, ranging from feedback on work in progress (eg during lab work) to more generic feedback on effective a student is performing their studies overall (end of year study advice). This paper, however, concentrates on providing feedback on assessment, both coursework and exams.
Feedback on assessment can be given to sum up the final judgement of the quality of the students work (summative feedback), or to help the student improve their work in future (formative feedback). A further, but in HE less common form of feedback helps the student identify their aptitude and ability for a particular kind of learning (diagnostic feedback). A highly individualised form of feedback sometimes used in (performing) arts, sports, design and professional disciplines takes into account the students’ previous developments, and uses this as the starting point for assessing progress or improvement of skills, knowledge and competence (ipsative feedback). Considering best practice of providing feedback to students, the following values apply: Feedback is best