Course Design Blueprint

What are the key features of effective feedback and feed forward? 

Student feedback should be specific to the work they do, motivate, and build self-esteem.

Outstanding feedback and feedforward should:

• Be dialogic and focus on learning
• Be timely (within University submission and return timescales)
• Be provided, with marks, to students online within three working weeks of the submission date, and feedback should enable students to comprehend how their overall marks were determined, usually through the use of rubrics in addition to feedback commentary
• Facilitate self-assessment and critical reflection
• Feed forward, by signposting to further developmental activities that might support academic skill of knowledge develop and improve future achievement or performance

What format may feedback take? 

Feedback from summative and formative assessment are an essential part of all students’ learning experience end essential for development and growth. Engaging student with feedback can take a number of forms:

• Through in-session activities and interaction, tutors provide feedback on students’ progress and understanding in their learning.
• Peer feedback upon formative assessment has the potential to develop and reinforce learning and development.
• Formative assessment activities (including on-line work) provide students with an opportunity to complete tasks and gain regular feedback.
• Feedback on draft work, usually at an early stage of development (essay plans, outline presentations).
• Students receive feedback on all assessment work, providing an explanation of the agreed mark awarded and indicating both positive aspects of the submitted work and areas for further development including on aspects where the student would be advised to focus further learning activity
• Feedback on exams takes a variety of forms but students will always be provided with an explanation of the agreed mark awarded and an indication of areas where the student would be advised to focus further learning activity.​​​​​Students gaining a non-passing mark for any component of assessment will be provided with an opportunity to discuss the feedback on this with a tutor in order to support their work to redeem the component.  
• A number of course teams have experimented with supplementing written summative feedback with verbal recordings with some success.  Having this alternative form can be more accessible for many students, and can feel like a much more personalised approach to students, hearing their tutor talk about their work using video to record feedback further enhances the quality of communication afforded through the inclusion of facial expressions and hand gestures. 

How is feedback provided in Block delivery? 

Feedback on any summative work would ideally be provided before students embark on a subsequent module, but this is generally not possible where the final submission is of significant volume of assessments at the culmination of a block of study. However, careful thought about assessment formats and timings can go some way to enabling students to have useful feedback and a degree of confidence in their learning and achievement at or near the end of a block.  Some possible strategies include:

• The use of time constrained assignments and multiple-choice question exams that allow the quick turn-around of marks and feedback

• Staging of assessment activity through the block such that students will have gained feedback on essential skills and theoretical knowledge throughout their studies, and the final submission acts as a formal means by which their learning is certified and their achievement is measured.  The use of portfolios and weekly worksheets (possibly delivered online) can facilitate this.

• The use of peer feedback processes can facilitate the provision of timely feedback on formative assessment, and also enable students to self-evaluate their work in a structured and effective manner.