Feedback on the assignment
'Hand writing needs to be clear and there needs to be a link between the comments and grades. For instance I once got back an essay where the comments were “good”, “good”, “good” and the grade was ‘C”. All those “goods” didn’t help me understand what I needed to do to get a better grade.' [Rose, international student, from China]
'Another area where both tutors and lecturers can make a big difference is when they give feedback on assignments. Comments on the assignment should help you understand why you received a particular grade. You should explain your feedback.' [Refugee background student, first year at university, female]
Students also have a clear idea about what they would like to receive feedback about.
'The most useful things for markers to give feedback on are essay structure, how well I have addressed the topic and whether the material I used was relevant to the topic.' [Rose, international student, from China]
The question of how much and what type of feedback students should get on issues of language and grammar was one that both students and staff raised. International students commented that feedback on their grammar was not so useful.
'It’s not helpful when markers focus almost entirely on correcting my grammar. If I want to focus on grammar I can go to Student Learning Support. If markers want to help me as a Chinese student they should focus on referencing because that’s something most Chinese students have less experience of and find difficult.' [Rose, international student, from China]
'I think markers should be reasonably lenient about grammar when they are marking an assignment. If students show they have understood the ideas and are doing something interesting with them, that is more important than having perfect grammar. '[International PG student, Pacific region, male]
And some teaching staff agreed with them. As noted above, Chris Bowden sets assignments which explicitly focus on either language or subject content. David Mason says that he tells the first year lecturers to ignore the standard of English and to look for the ideas. Even if their English expression is really bad, if they practice expressing themselves in English, they get better. This is an on-going area of debate - the standard of English that our students come with and what we should expect.
Some of these mismatches between the feedback provided and the feedback valued by the student can be addressed if lecturers and tutors take care to explain what they think feedback is for and what kind of feedback they intend to provide before the assessed work is due to be handed in. All students will benefit from this but students who come from different educational backgrounds, possibly with very different expectations about the form and function of feedback may find it particularly useful.
Not all feedback needs to be written and not all feedback needs to be individual. Grant Morris, Senior Lecturer, School of Law recognised this when he noted that for him One of the really big issues is marking and giving good feedback. Good feedback is essential if the students who are not doing well are to improve. In a way, I think it’s the most important thing I can do in the way of inclusivity. However, with such large classes it’s not really feasible to give good, detailed, individual feedback – so we rely on a good, generalised marking guide.
These resources from Oxford Brookes University on How to Make your Feedback Work in 3 Easy Steps and Using Generic Feedback Effectively give some suggestions on how to provide feedback in varied ways.
