Examples from practice
Actors: Lecturers, automatic feedback
Type: Tests, solving assignments
Actors: Lecturer
Type: Student presentation
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David Needham, Professor Department of Physics, Chemistry & Pharmacy Faculty of Science |
Actors: Lecturer, peer assessment and external party
Type: Training practical skills, exercise
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Dorthe Nielsen, Assistant professor Institute of Clinical Research, Department of Infectious Diseases Faculty of Health Sciences |
Actors: Peer assessment, lecturer and self-assessment
Type: Writing articles
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Thora Grothe Thomsen, Postdoc Institute of Regional Health Research Faculty of Health Sciences |
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Bibi Hølge-Hazelton, Director of a research institute & research associate professor Region Zealand and National Institute of Public Health, Copenhagen University |
VUF
The Tool for Developing Feedback Activities (VUF) provides teachers and educational developers with the opportunity to design and exchange experiences with on feedback activities. Find the tool and good examples of integration of feedback in practice via the VUF Diagram or in the right column.
Good feedback consists of 3 parts
Teachers in higher education often use summative and concluding assessment as feedback to students on their performance and level, however formative assessment has many benefits. Formative assessment is information/communication, i.e. feedback that is related to products, processes and activities that help the student assess his/her knowledge, skills and competences, identify areas that can be improved, and provide guidelines for future study activities.
Feedback is a valuable learning- and assessment tool, which can ensure students' personal and professional development.
Good feedback consists of 3 parts:
- Feedback: Feedback on the current performance. Where is the student currently placed with regards to objectives and criteria?
- Feed forward: What should the student work on next to reach the learning objectives?
- Feed up: Where are we heading? Clarification of and dialogue about learning objectives and criteria.
Feedback is not only something the teacher can/should deliver. Carrying out self-assessment and peer assessment based on fixed criteria and learning objectives can be a valuable learning experience for students. Self-assessment and peer assessment provide the opportunity for students to reflect on learning objectives, and what is required to reach these objectives. The students will start to think about what characterises a poor, a good and an excellent performance. Furthermore, peer assessment provides the opportunity for mutual inspiration, as the students will see and learn new strategies for solving assignments.
It can be difficult to ensure quality feedback at the right time for the student to get the most benefit from it. There are challenges, e.g. the workload for the students as well as the teacher, and the value attached to giving feedback. Consequently, it is important to design feedback activities in a way that will bring the best possible outcome from the available resources.
References
Hattie, J. and Timperley, H. (2007). The Power of Feedback. Review of Educational Research, Vol. 77, No. 1 (Mar., 2007), pp. 81-112.
Hounsell, D., McCune, V., Hounsell, J. and Litjens, J. (2008). The quality of guidance and feedback to students. Higher Education Research and Development 27 (1), 55-67.
Karlsen, K. H. (2015). Conceptualising a Model of Feedback in Higher Education. Nordic Studies in Education, Vol. 35, 2-2015, pp. 148–164.
Jonsson, A. (2012). Facilitating productive use of feedback in higher education. Active Learning in Higher Education. 14(1) 63–76.
Nicol, D. (2007). Principles of good assessment and feedback: Theory and practice. From the REAP International Online Conference on Assessment Design for Learner Responsibility, 29th-31st May, 2007.