Showing; Not Telling: Modelling Student Feedback to Improve Attainment and Satisfaction

Aims: This paper reports on the results of a small scale project with a group of MEd students titled, Showing; not telling: modelling student feedback to improve attainment and satisfaction. One of the key messages to emerge was the need for support with assessment literacy as it cannot be assumed that staff can shift from an instructional model of feedback to a descriptive model unsupported. Methods: The key to this transition is support and its composition is the focus of this study in which a pilot group of staff (3) and students (3) was established to determine the nature of the support required by markers by working through three sample scripts in order to create guidelines on how to ‘model’ feedback for students. Main findings: The central issue is what constitutes ‘helpful’ feedback. 1 Strengths had to be identified at the outset 2 Development needs, too, had to be made clear 3 Modelling feedback for students was found to be ‘difficult’, as it signified a shift from an instructional to a descriptive feedback model, which meant that markers had to function as both assessors and teachers simultaneously by providing students with examples of improvement rather than instructions. Conclusions: If this model of feedback were to be adopted, there would be implications for CPD across the courses and programmes in which it were to be situated. The next step for this project is to expand the range of participants in a follow-up investigation to further explore the implications for practice