JISC Assessment and Feedback Programme

Webinar

Feed-forward

19 June 2013

12.00 - 13.00

Rola Ajjawi Dundee InterACT r.ajjawi@dundee.ac.uk

Gunter Saunders Westminster MACE G.Saunders@westminster.ac.uk

Peter Chatterton Daedalus e-

World

Critical Friend peter.chatterton@daedalus-e-world.com

Presenters

Agenda

• Introduction and webinar objectives

• Feed-forward approaches and why they are important for engaging students.

• Institutional experiences of designing and adopting feed-forward approaches.

• Benefits, impact and challenges from using feed-forward approaches.

• Discussion of barriers and enablers for implementing feed-forward approaches

in different institutions.

Feed-forward approaches

and why they are important

for engaging students

InterACT Project interact@dundee.ac.uk

http://blog.dundee.ac.uk/interact/

What is feedforward?

According to Hattie and Timperley 2007, feedback encapsulated:

1. Where am I going

2. How am I going

3. Where to next (how do I get there?)

The third question constitutes feedforward

InterACT Learning principle 1. Afford opportunities for feedback to be used in future assignments

• Feedback should not be viewed as single occurrence (Boud and Molloy, 2013)

• Programmatic approach is needed

Formative assessment

Medium stakes assessment

High stakes assessment

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PG Certificate in Medical Education

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Revised PG Certificate in Medical Education

©Mark Russell 2010 University of Hertfordshire

ESCAPE project

1. Curriculum mapping

2. Assessment repository

• Developed a repository where all students’ work can be held for tutors to easily access previous feedback

“It’s great being able to see previous feedback

so easily”

3a. Student scaffolding CP

We ask students to tell us how previous feedback has informed this assignment on each cover page (CP)

• “It made me realise that instead of focusing on a single or a few key teaching principles, I focused on many of them without going into much detail”

• “Feedback that my writing style was agreeable was reassuring. I appreciated knowing my use of literature was valid so have tried to continue applying the literature to my work”

• “I tried to be careful to define and reference jargon”

• “It was really helpful in writing present assignment”

3b. Student scaffolding wiki

• We ask students to reflect on their feedback and to tell us what they have learned and what they will do differently in the future

• We can then match these up with the cover page responses to evidence learning from feedback in future assignments

4. Faculty development

• In assessment design that takes into account sequencing

• To ensure that tutors are aware of need for feedback to be forward-looking

• Audit based on Hattie & Timperley (2007)

• Prompt students to develop future orientated plans

• Use questions in feedback to prompt further learning

Key challenge: Feedback must be timely

Not fixed time, rather in time for students to

• Receive feedback

• Understand feedback

• Clarify feedback

• Submit next assignment with modifications

There is no point in giving feedback to a

learner unless the learner acts on it:

does[thinks] something concrete and

differently because of it (Steve Draper)

http://www.psy.gla.ac.uk/~steve/rap/fprompt.html

References

• Ajjawi, R., Schofield, S., McAleer, S., & Walker, D. (2013). Assessment and feedback dialogue in online distance learning. Medical Education, 47(5), 527-528.

• Hattie, J., & Timperley, H. (2007). The Power of Feedback. Review of Educational Research, 77(1), 81-112.

• Russell, M. & Bygate, D. 2010. Assessment for Learning: An introduction to the ESCAPE project. Blended Learning in Practice, 38-48.

University of Westminster

MAC - Making Assessment Count

Also implemented at:

• Cardiff Metropolitan University

• University of Greenwich

• City University

http://macplus.pbworks.com

MAC and E-Reflect

Feedback+

www.feedback-plus.it

SOS Model

MAC process - through a programme

Question Response Option Corresponding feedback When you received

your coursework

back, what did you

do with it?

Read feedback thoroughly

and observed grade

Good work - Tutors provide feedback on specific and general areas related to

the coursework that will help you to improve your skills and knowledge and to

enhance your academic development. Engaging with the feedback is

important, therefore, what will you do with the feedback that you have

received? Why not try to write down a few bullet points or actions detailing

how you could use feedback in a practical way to your next assignment? This

is called feeding forward. You could even try to think about how your

feedback could be applied across other modules and assessment tasks.

Observed the grade and

scan read feedback

Engaging with the feedback supplied by the tutor is an important part of the

assessment process. Tutors provide feedback on specific and general areas

related to the coursework that will help develop you academically. Therefore,

spending some additional time reading through the feedback supplied is

paramount to your development.

It could be helpful to write down a few bullet points or actions detailing how

you could use feedback in a practical way to your next assignment. This is

called feeding forward. You could even try to think about how your feedback

could be applied across other modules and assessment tasks.

I looked at my grade, but

did not read the tutor’s

comments

Engaging with the feedback supplied by the tutor is a vitally important part of

the assessment process. Tutors provide feedback on specific and general

areas related to the coursework that will help you to improve your skills,

knowledge and understanding, thereby enhancing your academic progress.

Spending time reading and thinking about the feedback supplied is helpful

because it is a chance to identify both your strengths and weaknesses. You

can then begin to consider how this feedback could be used in a practical way

by jotting down some bullet points or actions that can be applied to future

assessment tasks. This will improve your chances of getting a better grade

next time.

http://macplus.pbworks.com/w/page/48875251/City

http://macplus.pbworks.com/w/page/48875245/Cardiff%20Metropolitan

Feed-forward approaches - why they are important

for engaging students

• Making the most of feedback

• Developing the individual

• Addressing national agenda linked to NSS

• Turning back the clock o Linking students with their work and their tutors

o Building academic community dialogue

• They can make use of technology

• Addressing modularisation issues

Questions?

Institutional experiences

of designing and adopting

feed-forward approaches

Activity

Type into the text-chat any experiences you

have had in designing and adopting feed-

forward approaches.

Dundee:

• Need to link in with existing curriculum

review or institutional activities

• Need to get buy-in from staff

• Need to communicate to students clearly

that there is sequencing and why

• Needs to be valuable for students and staff

• Gain efficiencies in the system to

compensate

• Has to be streamlined and simple to use

Westminster:

• Hard to get buy-in even with senior support o Central vs devolved

• Needs to be simple

• Helps if it's proven

• Needs to come at the right time

• Has to fit in with local/institutional initiatives

Benefits, impact and challenges

from using

feed-forward approaches

Activity

Type into the text-chat what you see are the

key benefits, impact and challenges from using

feed-forward approaches

Dundee:

• Staff satisfaction as you see a difference in

future work as a result of feedback

• Holistic approach to learning by students

• Fosters a developmental approach to

feedback

• Closes the evaluation loop for tutor

Westminster:

• Raises the profile of assessment

• Can increase student:tutor dialogue

• Close the circle on assessment/development

• Changing the predominant teaching paradigm

• Addressing technology use barriers

• Engages students in the assessment debate

• Sustainability

Barriers and enablers

for implementing

feed-forward approaches

in different institutions

Activity

Type into the text-chat any barriers (& enablers)

that you would encounter in your institution.

Dundee:

• Feedback not timely

• Student not understanding feedforward

• Tutors not understanding feedforward

• Assignments are not sequenced

• Technology

Westminster:

• Different cultures

• Use of non-mainstream tools/systems

• Compliance issues

• Work through individuals with 'wide' role

• Wide dissemination approaches

• Human connectors

Question

From what you have heard today, will you be looking at

feed-forward approaches in your institution?

A - Yes

B - No

C - We already are

D - Maybe

E - Other

(use the text chat for comments)