Feedback that Students Care About

Abstract

Outline: This session will outline the feedback strategy piloted within Design Studies over the last two-years, which was developed in response to ongoing concerns around how feedback is understood, used, and valued by students, as well as the pressures placed on staff to deliver timely, consistent, and meaningful responses to student work.

The session will introduce the feedback approach, which aims to shift emphasis from feedback as a one-off transmission of information toward feedback as an ongoing process that supports reflection, dialogue, and future learning. Central to this approach is the use of guided self-review prior to feedback conversations, encouraging students to articulate their understanding of assessment criteria and their own performance before engaging with teaching staff.

Audience Requirements: Though this presentation would be valuable to, and results best informed by, teaching staff (as this is a key stakeholder yet to provide feedback on the approach), it will be equally useful for students too.

Method of Presentation: The session will be run as a workshop. Following a short introduction and rationale for the feedback, participants will be invited to consider the pilot in a broader discussion about the role of feedback, discuss strengths and limitations for development of the approach, and consider how similar approaches might translate to their own contexts.

Preparation: Participants will be sent the self-assessment grid, and staff feedback guide prior to the session to be able to inform discussion.

Intended Outcome: Participants will provide feedback on the approach, contribute to discussion around assessment practice, and take away ideas that could inform future experimentation or small-scale trials in their own teaching.