Feedback is an important part of the
assessment process. It has a significant effect on student learning and has
been described as “the most powerful single moderator that enhances
achievement” (Hattie, 1999).
In this video (2:58) Nalini Pather speaks
about the importance of providing feedback to students right from the beginning
of the course.
The main objectives of feedback are to:
- justify
to students how their mark or grade was derived
- identify
and reward specific qualities in student work
- guide
students on what steps to take to improve
- motivate
them to act on their assessment
- develop
their capability to monitor, evaluate and regulate their own learning
(Nicol, 2010).
To benefit student learning, feedback needs to
be:
Constructive: As well as highlighting the strengths and
weaknesses of a given piece of work, it should set out ways in which the
student can improve the work. For the student, it:
- encourages
them to think critically about their work and to reflect on what they need
to do to improve it
- helps
them see their learning in new ways and gain increased satisfaction from
it
- helps
promote dialogue between staff and students.
Timely: Give feedback while the assessed work is
still fresh in a student’s mind, before the student moves on to subsequent
tasks.
Meaningful: It should target individual needs, be linked
to specific assessment criteria, and be received by a student in time to
benefit subsequent work. Effective feedback:
- guides
students to adapt and adjust their learning strategies
- guides
teachers to adapt and adjust teaching to accommodate students’ learning
needs
- guides
students to become independent and self-reflective learners, and better
critics of their own work
- stimulates
reflection, interaction and dialogue about learning improvement
- is
constructive, so that students feel encouraged and motivated to improve
- has
consequences, so that it engages students by requiring them to attend to
the feedback as part of the assessment
- is
efficient, so that staff can manage it effectively.
Feedback is valuable when it is received,
understood and acted on. How students analyse, discuss and act on feedback is
as important as the quality of the feedback itself (Nicol, 2010). Through the
interaction students have with feedback, they come to understand how to develop
their learning.
Academics in context
Information
about the academic staff in this video and their professional contexts may be
found in the Academics in context document.
Want to know more?
If
you would like to more about this topic on the importance of feedback in
assessment there are additional resources listed in the Want to know more.pdf for this step.
