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Marking and Feedback

Liz Gormley-Fleming, Sharon Korek & Julie Vuolo

Learning and Teaching Institute

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Aim

• To explore best practice in relation to providing effective and efficient marking and feedback for all students

To include:• An overview of the University’s Assessment-for-

Learning Principles and relevant UPRs • Consideration of the efficiency and effectiveness

of different approaches to marking and feedback• The student perspective on marking and feedback

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Marking

Q. What issues and challenges does marking raise for you?

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Principles of Good PracticeAssessment-for-Learning Principles 2012• Engages students with the

assessment criteria• Supports personalised learning• Ensures feedback leads to

improvement• Focuses on student development• Stimulates dialogue• Considers student and staff effort

LTI HOME > Guidance, Resources and Toolkits > Assessment and Feedback > Assessment Guidance

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UPRsUPR AS14 2012-13D5.2.2• Referral in undergraduate programmes: module and short

course boards have the authority and discretion to allow the student the opportunity to be referred in examination and or coursework if she/he has achieved an overall module numeric grade of 20 or more

• Where a module grade of 19 or less has been achieved through in-intended non-submission of coursework or non-attendance at an examination/class test module then short course boards have the discretion to award a FREFE/FREFC/FREFB (fail)

• Grade bands

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UPRsUPR AS13 2012-13• 5.3.3 All summative assessment must be internally moderated. This

involves reviewing a minimum of a sample size equal to the square root of the total number of items, but not less than five (5), selecting work from across the range of grades awarded. If there are less than five (5) items of assessment, then all items will be reviewed.

• 5.3.6. For modules at levels 6 and 7, any coursework assignment which is unique to the student, counts for over 50% of the module assessment, and is marked by more than one first marker, must be fully blind double marked. An example of an assessment task that must be blind double marked is the individual project/dissertation module.

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UPRs

UPR AS13 2012-13• 5.4.1 Students’ coursework will be returned to them

together with feedback no later than four (4) weeks after the submission deadline. For work of an on-going nature such as a major project or dissertation, supervising staff will ensure that students are provided with feedback at interim stages.

• Anonymous marking-SEEC approved.

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Grading criteria• Grading Criteria are a way of communicating the levels of

attainment that are expected & mapping them to particular grade bands

• Grading criteria can be specific to a piece of work or more usually, are general grading criteria that are published by a school or department for example

• Grading criteria are influenced by the academic level of the assessment they relate to

• They are a valuable resource for students looking to understand what is expected of them when undertaking assessment work.

• Consequently it is important that they are articulated in a transparent logical and accessible form

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How to mark?

• Know the assessment criteria• Be clear on timing / deadlines• Consider subject knowledge• Set aside time• Consider environment• Online or not?• Consider assessment integrity• Take the plunge…

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Feedback

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Over to you

Q. Give an example of when feedback has not been a positive experience

Q. How could this have been improved upon?

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What is the purpose of feedback?

Consider what are the specific purposes of apiece of feedback e.g. early encouragement,detailed correction of errors, suggestions forfurther work to advance thinking, encouragingstudents to ‘break out of the mould’, late stageminimal feedback in conjunction with summativeassessment…What is the level? What is the stage? What are theparticular features of this group/cohort?

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What do students want?

The National Union of Students, 2008

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Students use of feedback

• Lack of guidance on how to address issues identified in feedback (Burke 2007)

• Lack of guidance on what to do with feedback (Weaver 2006)

• Even when students do read it they do not act on it (Boud and Falchikov 2007)

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Effective feedback should avoid....

Feedback should….......Concentrate on description, evaluation and remediation; be timely; consider inclusivity; feed forward; be written clearly; be meaningful…

Positive but not going anywhere statements

Negative but not necessarily destructive terminology

Potentially damaging terms

Final language

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Unhelpful feedback!http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PRIlnUAKwDY&feature=related

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Over to you

• What is the practice in your school?–How often?–By what means?–What support is available for new teachers?–How do you know it is working?

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Different ways of giving feedback -examples from practice

Remote Student Peer Assessment and Feedback

Podcast Feedback on Coursework

EXAMINATION FEEDBACK FORM

MODULE CODEMODULE NAMESTUDENT NAMECOMMENTS (These are designed to assist your performance in future assessment, so focus on matters such as examination technique/timing, ability to structure essays, construct persuasive argument and adopt a logical format in answering problem questions. Staff will also comment on your overall understanding and application of the law. Unless you have failed the module the feedback is not intended to highlight strengths and weaknesses in the particular module)

The comments focus on exam technique rather than subject specific issues.

Written Feedback on End-of-module Summative Assessment

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Involving students in feedback

• Tell you, given where they are at with their learning, what they want your feedback on

• Summarise what the feedback you provided meant to them• Write feedback on their own submissions (before submitting their work)

• Demonstrate how they have used feedback from previous assessment activity to enhance the current assessment task

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Over to you

Q. What are the key challenges of marking and feedback?

Q. What can we do to enhance Assessment-for-Learning practice in relation to marking and feedback?

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Things to try

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Bibliography• JISC Assessment and Feedback Programme (2012)

http://www.jisc.ac.uk/whatwedo/programmes/elearning/assessmentandfeedback.aspx

• Learning and Teaching Institute (2012) Assessment-for-Learning Principles, University of Hertfordshire

• National Union of Students (2010) Feedback: What can you expect http://www.nus.org.uk/en/advice/course-reps/feedback/feedback-what-you-can-expect-/ (accessed 25th June 2012)

• National Union of Students (2008) Higher Education Assessment Feedback Campaign http://www.nus.org.uk/en/campaigns/higher-education/assessment-feedback-/

• Nicol, DJ. & Macfarlane-Dick, D. (2006) Formative assessment and self-regulated learning; a model and seven principles of good practice. Studies in Higher Education Vol 31, No. 2, pp. 199-218