To find out more a student intern, working with staff in LTDS, evaluated existing feedback forms and gathered opinions from students to identify what works and what could be improved. The project considered a total of 66 forms from 19 different schools and included focus groups and interviews with individual students.
What did they find?
These are a few key findings and you can find full details in the project report.
Form Design
Have clear, separate sections showing:
- Strengths and areas for improvement
- Clear advice for future work
Only use tick boxes for objective areas of the marking criteria, such as grammar. When tick boxes were used for subjective areas, such as argument, students found this unhelpful.
Look at your feedback forms and consider whether these should be redesigned. Consult with the students in your school as part of the process.
Utilising the form
Type feedback, wherever possible.
Introduce structured opportunities to help students understand:
- expectations of the marking criteria
- the ways in which this is reflected in the feedback sheet
Discuss how you use marking sheets with your colleagues. Try to develop a consistent approach to:
- the volume of feedback
- the use of notes in margins
For more information get in touch with LTDS@ncl.ac.uk