Tutors’ important role in providing constructive feedback on assessment.
The Higher Education Academy Subject Centre for Education ESCalate is asking for your say on ‘Tutor Assessment and Feedback: What has helped you and why?” Here’s my thoughts…
It may come as a surprise to some students who are currently reflecting over feedback advising they need to improve, when they felt everything was fine, but Tutor assessment and feedback is important, and on reflection ensures some of the positive things that it can provide. A great deal of learning has taken place as a result of tutor assessment and feedback. Students should not miss this opportunity to check whether their current study strategy is proving effective. As Rowntree (1997, p.16) discusses providing assessment encourages students to seek the competences that the course promises. The feedback provided at each assessment stage is vital to provide reassurance that worthwhile progress is being made. It is also, as Rowntree (2002, p.43) suggests, a helpful way for the tutor and student to keep in touch. Tutor feedback also helps in improving study skills and bridges the gap between what was achieved and the desired level required (Black and Wiliam,1998).
Helpful assessment has included feedback on tutor marked assignments and work done online (forums, wikis, blogs, e-portfolios and so on). A helpful approach has been through the Tutor’s encouragement for students to develop their own criteria for the assessment, apply reflective frameworks to discussions and provide peer-to-peer feedback. It is helpful when the tutor facilitates an element of peer review. Students need encouragement to provide feedback to their peers and are likely to need guidance on what kind of comments and approach to use. Learners may initially be reluctant to provide feedback so the tutor’s role in motivating such dialogue is critical.
Tutors have also provided innovative ways of assessment. One such example is the use of self-assessment online quizzes and questionnaires which have been highly effective with students contributing regularly in a structured environment and then having their overall contribution to the group assessed as part of the module. Quiz assessments serve as a formative, as well as, summative role. The assessment activities, such as, the quizzes are tailored to focus on the key course objectives – the competences that students aim to develop. The feedback provided at each assessment stage is vital to reassure students that they are making worthwhile progress.
Formal assessment through the form of a detailed commentary on assessment works well, these commentaries have both a summative and formative focus. If care is taken to relate comments about the work to the definitions of learning outcomes given in the module specification then it makes it clear to the student about the award of credit for their work. Comments that have a strong developmental focus and foreground issues for improvement in future work allow students to experience the degree module as a process of continual development rather than a series of formal assessments to be completed in isolation.
It is helpful when Tutors appreciate the view of Students and Tutors being partners in sharing the challenge of learning and that the great benefit is that instead of two eyes, there are four to share ideas. A sharing of learning contributes to both a Tutor’s and Student’s development and is key to supporting reflective learning; it encourages both to explore different ways of helping and encouraging, to write and think through their ideas and inquiries in a collaborative way.
One of innovative design features of a course studied at The Open University was the inclusion of two peer-reviewed assignments. The first of these assignments was the students’ proposals for their examinable component and the second was the draft of the students’ project. These two assignments provided an opportunity for learners to receive feedback and guidance from other practitioners regarding their proposal, but it was also an opportunity for learners to develop their meta-skills. In the course, learners set the criteria for feedback by setting out the specific aspects of the proposal they wanted comments on. The course was designed to include student support that was appropriate to the needs of its learners. The key to the tutor support design was moderation in mind and facilitation of forum discussions, assignment feedback and maintaining motivation. The media used was also appropriate and enabled collaboration and constructivist learning. The course approach was to go a step further by giving learner-learner support an even more important role. This is achieved through the introduction of formal peer review for some assignments and more learner involvement in forum moderation facilitated by the Tutor.
In summary, the Tutor has an important role in providing constructive feedback on assessment. Such feedback is vital for student learning, motivation and continual improvement and development throughout the course, particularly as it is one of the key contact points between the learner and their tutor. It is important that tutor feedback is positive, as well as critical, as some learners may lack confidence when approaching academic work. Assessment also enables the tutor to identify whether students are understanding the course materials and meeting the learning objectives of the module and then provide the appropriate help and support.
References
Black, P. & Wiliam, D. (1998) ‘Assessment and classroom learning’, Assessment in Education: Principles, Policy and Practice, 5(1), pp. 7-74
Rowntree, D. (2002) Preparing Materials for Open, Distance and Flexible Learning, London: Routledge