Would you like your students to be able to see all of their feedback in one place?
Do you feel like you’re pouring useful advice and feedback into the void?
You need the feedback foghorn!
Lindsey Ferrie in Biomedical Sciences has been piloting the scheme in Biomedical Sciences which allows students to use e-portfolio software to compile, track and store their feedback across their course.
The system allows them to track their academic progress across software such as Grademark, Turnitin and PeerWise in order to analyse areas of strength and weakness and to see clearly their academic progress.
The system saves written and audio feedback from tutors and lecturers in one place as well as individual grades to allow students to easily access and process their feedback.
Lindsey worked with Simon Cotterill of the Faculty of Medical Science’s Learning Technologies team and Graeme Redshaw Boxwell of LTDS to develop the system using e-portfolio, using money from an Innovation Fund award in 2013.
Lindsey said: ‘It is well documented that students are not only dissatisfied with assessment feedback but are disengaged with its use.
‘The response in most institutions has been to widen the variety of feedback provided to students or to introduce innovative feedback practices.
‘However the resulting effects appear to have further de-personalised feedback for both students and staff ensuring that the current feedback fog is getting thicker!’
Not only does the Foghorn allow students to view their feedback, it also allows them to reflect on their progress, allowing them to develop their reflective skills too.
Lindsey said: ‘The students found this really useful – being able to assess their progress and not just their grades. They can see the areas of strength in their work and address areas which need improvement.
‘The system has an autopull so it automatically pulls in feedback from across the University systems so that they can interpret it all in one place.
‘Hopefully it will encourage students to really use and interact with their feedback, helping them to improve their work and to track how they’re doing.’
The team are still working on the project and hope to try more iterations of the feedback foghorn to develop the software.
You can read the Case Study in our Case Studies Database.
Do you have an example of good or innovative use of technology in teaching?
Contact ltds@ncl.ac.uk.