Marking and Feedback
Liz Gormley-Fleming, Sharon Korek &
Julie Vuolo
Learning and Teaching Institute
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Aim
• To explore best practice in relation to providing
effective and efficient marking and feedback for all
students
To include:
• An overview of the University’s Assessment-forLearning Principles and relevant UPRs
• Consideration of the efficiency and effectiveness
of different approaches to marking and feedback
• The student perspective on marking and feedback
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Marking
Q. What issues and challenges does marking
raise for you?
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Principles of Good Practice
Assessment-for-Learning
Principles 2012
• Engages students with the
assessment criteria
• Supports personalised learning
• Ensures feedback leads to
improvement
• Focuses on student
development
• Stimulates dialogue
• Considers student and staff
effort
LTI HOME > Guidance, Resources and Toolkits > Assessment and Feedback > Assessment
Guidance
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UPRs
UPR AS14 2012-13
D5.2.2
• Referral in undergraduate programmes: module and
short course boards have the authority and discretion
to allow the student the opportunity to be referred in
examination and or coursework if she/he has achieved
an overall module numeric grade of 20 or more
• Where a module grade of 19 or less has been achieved
through in-intended non-submission of coursework or
non-attendance at an examination/class test module
then short course boards have the discretion to award
a FREFE/FREFC/FREFB (fail)
• Grade bands
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UPRs
UPR AS13 2012-13
• 5.3.3 All summative assessment must be internally
moderated. This involves reviewing a minimum of a sample
size equal to the square root of the total number of items, but
not less than five (5), selecting work from across the range of
grades awarded. If there are less than five (5) items of
assessment, then all items will be reviewed.
• 5.3.6. For modules at levels 6 and 7, any coursework
assignment which is unique to the student, counts for over
50% of the module assessment, and is marked by more than
one first marker, must be fully blind double marked. An
example of an assessment task that must be blind double
marked is the individual project/dissertation module.
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UPRs
UPR AS13 2012-13
• 5.4.1 Students’ coursework will be returned to them
together with feedback no later than four (4) weeks
after the submission deadline. For work of an ongoing nature such as a major project or dissertation,
supervising staff will ensure that students are
provided with feedback at interim stages.
• Anonymous marking-SEEC approved.
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Grading criteria
• Grading Criteria are a way of communicating the levels of
attainment that are expected & mapping them to
particular grade bands
• Grading criteria can be specific to a piece of work or
more usually, are general grading criteria that are
published by a school or department for example
• Grading criteria are influenced by the academic level of
the assessment they relate to
• They are a valuable resource for students looking to
understand what is expected of them when undertaking
assessment work.
• Consequently it is important that they are articulated in a
transparent logical and accessible form
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How to mark?
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Know the assessment criteria
Be clear on timing / deadlines
Consider subject knowledge
Set aside time
Consider environment
Online or not?
Consider assessment integrity
Take the plunge…
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Feedback
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Over to you
Q. Give an example of when feedback has not
been a positive experience
Q. How could this have been improved upon?
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What is the purpose of feedback?
Consider what are the specific purposes of a
piece of feedback e.g. early encouragement,
detailed correction of errors, suggestions for
further work to advance thinking, encouraging
students to ‘break out of the mould’, late stage
minimal feedback in conjunction with summative
assessment…
What is the level? What is the stage? What are the
particular features of this group/cohort?
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What do students want?
The National Union of Students, 2008
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Students use of feedback
• Lack of guidance on how to address issues
identified in feedback (Burke 2007)
• Lack of guidance on what to do with feedback
(Weaver 2006)
• Even when students do read it they do not act
on it (Boud and Falchikov 2007)
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Effective feedback should avoid....
Final
language
Potentially damaging
terms
Positive but not going
anywhere statements
Negative but not necessarily
destructive terminology
Feedback should….......
Concentrate on description, evaluation and
remediation; be timely; consider inclusivity;
feed forward; be written clearly; be
meaningful…
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Unhelpful feedback!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PRIln
UAKwDY&feature=related
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Over to you
• What is the practice in your school?
– How often?
– By what means?
– What support is available for new teachers?
– How do you know it is working?
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Different ways of giving feedback examples from practice
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Remote Student Peer Assessment and Feedback
Podcast Feedback on
Coursework
Written Feedback on Endof-module Summative
Assessment
EXAMINATION FEEDBACK FORM
MODULE CODE
MODULE NAME
STUDENT NAME
COMMENTS
(These are designed to assist your performance in future assessment, so focus on matters such as
examination technique/timing, ability to structure essays, construct persuasive argument and adopt a
logical format in answering problem questions. Staff will also comment on your overall understanding and
application of the law. Unless you have failed the module the feedback is not intended to highlight
strengths and weaknesses in the particular module)
The comments focus on exam
technique rather than subject
specific issues.
Involving students in feedback
• Tell you, given where they are at with their learning,
what they want your feedback on
• Summarise what the feedback you provided meant to
them
• Write feedback on their own submissions (before
submitting their work)
• Demonstrate how they have used feedback from
previous assessment activity to enhance the current
assessment task
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Over to you
Q. What are the key challenges of marking and
feedback?
Q. What can we do to enhance Assessment-forLearning practice in relation to marking and
feedback?
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Things to try
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Bibliography
• JISC Assessment and Feedback Programme (2012)
http://www.jisc.ac.uk/whatwedo/programmes/elearning/assessmentand
feedback.aspx
• Learning and Teaching Institute (2012) Assessment-for-Learning Principles,
University of Hertfordshire
• National Union of Students (2010) Feedback: What can you expect
http://www.nus.org.uk/en/advice/course-reps/feedback/feedback-whatyou-can-expect-/ (accessed 25th June 2012)
• National Union of Students (2008) Higher Education Assessment Feedback
Campaign http://www.nus.org.uk/en/campaigns/highereducation/assessment-feedback-/
• Nicol, DJ. & Macfarlane-Dick, D. (2006) Formative assessment and selfregulated learning; a model and seven principles of good practice. Studies
in Higher Education Vol 31, No. 2, pp. 199-218
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