Developing good assessment and feedback practices at Brighton

Author: Dr. Jo Hall, Principal Lecturer in Learning and Teaching

During the academic years 2021/22 and 2022/23, the Learning and Teaching Hub have participated in a Quality Assurance Agency (QAA) funded research project, along with several other universities, focusing on inclusive assessment. The project aim was to find out what strategies were inclusive for students during the Covid 19 pandemic, when the sector saw the introduction of various supportive measures such as no detriment policies and an increased use of alternative assessments. The research produced a toolkit and a list of inclusive assessment attributes, which have been disseminated through a series of online workshops and conference presentations.

At Brighton in 2023/24, the Learning and Teaching Hub have continued this research by trialling specific strategies to enhance student understanding and skill in assessment and feedback practices with colleagues in the Schools of Art and Media, Architecture, Technology and Engineering, Sport and Health Sciences, and Humanities and Social Sciences. The strategies have emerged from the development of the inclusive assessment attributes as well as research conducted in the sector (see, for example, Boud & Dawson, 2023; Carless & Boud, 2018) that has highlighted the importance of students and staff developing both assessment and feedback literacies. These two related concepts emphasise the importance of understanding the assessment task, and how it will be assessed, but also to understand how to provide and interpret feedback.

In implementing the first strategy, participating staff included at least one class that looked in detail at the module summative assessment(s). Staff and students discussed the concept of assessment literacy, examined the assessment brief(s), and looked at examples of work that they would compare to the marking criteria.

The second strategy focuses on academic skill development. This recognises the importance of students developing and practising the skills required for the mode of assessment. Staff using this strategy included classes dedicated to the type of assessment – for example, if students were required to do a presentation, then they would have sessions on how to prepare and deliver a presentation effectively, as well as the opportunity to practice presenting. This also applies to different types of written tasks, for example, reports or critical evaluations.

The final strategy is more radical in that it focuses on changing the format of feedback for students from written text to a conversation with the student. This was prompted by well supported evidence from students indicating that they rarely read their written feedback, a recognition in the sector of the value in having more dialogue with students and a growing enthusiasm in the adoption of dialogic feedback formats (see Blair & McGinty, 2013; Carless, 2013). Staff using this strategy provided students with the opportunity to attend a one-to-one meeting to discuss their assessment and feedback (instead of receiving written feedback). Students were encouraged to complete a reflective exercise before the meeting, encouraging the student to think about how they prepared for the assessment and how well they feel they met the marking criteria. This provides a basis for a conversation between student and tutor, which is an important element of this strategy. Staff were also encouraged to develop reflective skills during the module through class activities and formative assessments. Students were able to record the meeting if they wished, and tutors recorded the meeting for purposes of external moderation.

The research has been evaluated by our student partner, Liliane Broschart, who has conducted interviews with participating students and academic staff. Early analysis indicates that students and staff have greatly valued the introduction of these strategies, particularly the use of dialogic feedback, and are keen to incorporate these strategies in the next academic year.

Following completion of the interview analysis, Liliane will be recording a Talking about Teaching podcast, highlighting key takeaways from the research that colleagues can use in their own teaching moving forwards. We will also be using the outcomes to feed into the development of an Inclusive Learning and Teaching toolkit, which will be available for staff in the next academic year.

We are currently looking for staff at Brighton who would be interested in implementing dialogic feedback practices in the next academic year. If you would like to take part in this research, please contact Dr Jo Hall in the Learning and Teaching Hub.

 

References:

Blair, A and McGinty, S (2013) ‘Feedback-dialogues: exploring the student perspective’, Assessment and Evaluation in Higher Education, 38:4, pp.466-476.

Boud, D. & Dawson, P. (2023) ‘What feedback literate teachers do: an empirically-derived competency framework’, in Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education, 48:2, pp.158-171.

Carless, D. (2012) ‘Trust and its role in facilitating dialogic feedback’, in Boud, D. & Molloy, E. (eds) Feedback in higher and professional education Abingdon: Routledge, pp.100-113.

Carless, D. & Boud, D. (2018) ‘The development of student feedback literacy: enabling uptake of feedback’ in Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education, 43:8, pp.1315-1325.