01-05-2012, 10:46 AM
What feedback do students want
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Introduction
Feedback constitutes a central aspect of learning, yet has been largely neglected in research to date, particularly from
the student’s point of view. As argued by Ramsden (2003) and others (see Astin, 1991; Black & William, 1998),
effective and high quality feedback is a key element of quality teaching. Hounsell (2003, p.67) notes:
It has long been recognised, by researchers and practitioners alike, that feedback plays a
decisive role in learning and development, within and beyond formal educational settings.
We learn faster, and much more effectively, when we have a clear sense of how well we
are doing and what we might need to do in order to improve.
Such arguments are well supported by the findings of meta-analyses studies. In a review of 87 meta-analyses, Hattie
(1987) found that feedback was the most powerful influencer of student achievement. Black and William (1998) also
emphasised the widespread and consistent positive effects of feedback on learning, when compared to other aspects of
teaching.
Method
Participants were undergraduate and postgraduate students enrolled at Macquarie University in the following discipline
areas: business, accounting and finance, actuarial studies, economics and statistics. This part of the study involved
running a combination of individual interviews and focus groups to explore student perceptions of feedback. Focus
group interviews have been found to be a
highly efficient technique for qualitative data collection since the amount and range of
data are increased by collecting from several people at the same time (Robson, 2002, p.
284).
What is the difference between good and poor feedback?
For the majority of students, good feedback was when a lecturer provided information in addition to their mark or grade
for a particular assessment item. This could be either individual written comments on an assessment task, or a verbal
explanation to the group or class, or providing sample answers to each question (particularly those questions where
students experienced problems). All students reported that the worst feedback was receiving no feedback at all as can be
seen in the following comment;
Do you receive enough feedback?
Responses were mixed to the question of whether enough feedback was being provided. Variation was attributed in
most cases to the tutor and class size, with some tutors posting the results online without any comments at all. Where
feedback was provided, it was generally reported as being relevant, and related to the purpose of the assignment.
Several students commented that feedback was more comprehensive in third year and the honours year of their degrees
but that little feedback was provided in first and second year. They attributed this to the large class sizes in their early
undergraduate years, and to the lecturers not having enough time;
Is the feedback provided in a timely manner?
Most students indicated they were unhappy with the timeliness of feedback provided within the faculty. The majority of
students reported that currently assignments were taking on average 3-4 weeks to be returned, and in some cases longer.
This was of particular concern when assignments were not returned prior to the final exam. When asked what they
thought was a reasonable turnaround time for feedback to be provided following the submission of an assignment, most
students indicated a preference of one week for multiple choice and short answer questions and 2-3 weeks for essays
and reports, provided this was before the next assignment. Students were also aware of tutor time restrictions in large
classes; however, one month was the maximum time given for provision of feedback, and for some respondents, one
week was the preferred turn-around time for all assessment items. The main reason given was that after several weeks
had passed, the tutor had moved onto other parts of the course, and hence it was not an ideal time to reflect on previous
work. Focus group responses of this type included;
Conclusion
The present study has sought to explore student perceptions of feedback, a relatively under researched area. Qualitative
results have been presented from focus groups, the themes of which will be used to develop a closed-form
questionnaire.
Students reported that they collected their assignments, read the written feedback they received and in most cases used
it for future assignments. This supports previous findings by Higgins et al. (2002), Hyland (2000) and Weaver (2006),
who also found that students valued feedback. While they considered the grade important, many students expressed a
need for additional feedback to enable them to prepare for other assessment tasks. It is interesting to note that some
students felt it was respectful of lecturers to provide feedback in return for the hard work they had done, and wanted
academics to be held accountable for marking assignments on time. Students felt that providing late feedback was
particularly disrespectful, given that they were expected to meet deadlines when submitting an assignment. The value of
feedback was highlighted also by several comments indicating that students wanted tutors to consider their feelings and
point of view, as can be seen in the following comment by a female undergraduate domestic student;