Student expectations from on-line feedback : credibility, personalisation and exemplified feedback tools and techniques

Assessment and feedback affect the student learning experience and should form an integrated and motivational component of their learning. Students’ satisfaction (e.g. measured using: Module Evaluation Questionnaire, Kingston Student Survey and National Student Survey) will be adversely affected when Students receive feedback that does not meet their needs. This may happen, for example, when feedback is poorly aligned with the assessment criteria and when staff lack the necessary understanding and exposure to exchange effective feedback. The Student Academic Development Research Associate Scheme (SADRAS) scheme at Kingston University has funded a project called ‘what do I expect from online feedback?'. This project was a partnership between a team of staff from the Learning and Teaching Enhancement Centre and students from the Faculty of Science, Engineering and Computing at Kingston University. The project team designed a study to investigate student interpretation of feedback using assessment and feedback tools in the University’s Virtual Learning Environment (VLE), Canvas. The students ran two focus group interviews with Level 5 and 6 students enrolled on STEM degrees and used videos to demonstrate various ways to communicate feedback using the VLE, Canvas. In this presentation, four main contributions will be presented. First, what students perceive as feedback, including the inconsistent notions of what ‘good feedback’ looks like, a desire for ‘credible’ feedback, dialogue-based feedback and personalised feedback. Second, the potential mismatch between staff and student expectations of feedback. Third, exemplified feedback tools and techniques in Canvas, and finally recommendations for good practice on assessment and feedback