Key points (i.e., I haven't got all day!)

This session will focus on feedback with a particular focus on why it is important to engage with it, how to do so and how to get the most out of it. By the end of this session they should be able to:

• Identify different types of feedback

• Understand the importance of feedback

• Know how to access feedback

• Use the feedback they receive effectively

You might want to start by noting what feedback is (i.e., Information or opinions relating to a piece of work which can be used as a basis to improve; Irons, 2008) and the many different types of feedback they will encounter. Often students aren’t aware of the many forms of feedback they receive.

As such, it is worth reminding them that feedback is not only what they receive when they get a mark. It can come in many forms, both verbal and written, and via a range of mediums. You may wish to run through some of the types of feedback they may have received to do some consciousness raising of the feedback they are being provided with. Feedback and Assessment is a key component of the National Student Survey (NSS) so getting across how much is do in relation to feedback is a worthy endeavour. 

Some of the forms of feedback they will likely have received now are listed below: 

• When academics discuss common problems students have with an assignment.

• When academics responds to students’ questions during a lecture/seminar/workshop.

• When academics reply to an email enquiry about module content or an assignment.

• When academics make posts / announcements on Canvas to address questions/common errors.

• When your academic mentor helps you to understand why you received the mark you did in an essay or exam.

• Group exam or assignment feedback in live sessions or face-to-face sessions

• Oral feedback for presentations or group work in workshop

You could do your own little experiment to see how many of them have received these different types of feedback. They should all have received several of these forms of feedback and there is no harm in doing some consciousness raising and making them aware of this.

Formative and summative feedback:

Worth also going over the difference between formative and summative feedback as often first years get confused over the differences between these.

Formative Feedback gives them the opportunity to receive feedback before a final assessment. This could be comments on a draft of their research project.  

Summative Feedback is usual a formal assessment with a grade, but important that they don’t just focus on this and read any comments carefully. For example, this could be a mark on their essay.

As we know all too well, academics will often spend a considerable amount of time providing feedback yet many students simply do not engage with it. Moreover, many of those who do access it often do not act on it. Thus, it is worth using this time to convey the importance of engaging with the feedback students receive.

You can note that feedback is a key ingredient to success as it provides the basis for improvement. We can see examples of its importance and utility based on how major companies and organisations will constantly seek feedback (e.g., Amazon asking customers to review products, Zoom asking people to rate their experience, film companies using test screenings). Not only do major companies and organisations want feedback they extensively analyse their feedback to try and improve what they do.

People who really want to succeed at what they do will even pay for feedback and seek it at all opportunities. For example, athletes will often pay for coaches to tell them how they can improve and actors and musicians will want feedback from audiences and critics.

Feedback is also inevitable, no matter whether they end up in academia or elsewhere in their careers. You can note that they will be receiving feedback whether invited or not (e.g., job appraisals; reviewers; customers). As such, it is best to learn how to deal with it both emotionally and practically.

Potential activity: ‘It'd be useful, but I wouldn't use it’: barriers to university students’ feedback seeking and recipience

There are some excellent papers by Prof. Naomi Winstone et al. (2017)* in relation to student engagement with feedback. One of which has been suggested by Dr Ruth Horry as a source of discussion for students in these sessions.

The paper in question examines the barriers (e.g., awareness, cognisance, agency and volition) which prevent students from engaging with feedback which raises some interesting points. You might wish to get students to have a look over this paper and discuss with them factors which might influence them to engage with feedback.

*Winstone, N. E., Nash, R. A., Rowntree, J., & Parker, M. (2017). ‘It'd be useful, but I wouldn't use it’: barriers to university students’ feedback seeking and recipience. Studies in Higher Education, 42(11), 2026-2041.

It is worth noting that processing feedback is a skill in itself. It is natural to be apprehensive about receiving/viewing feedback and to feel somewhat defensive or sensitive about the work they have submitted, but it is important that they view it is a learning experience and a way to improve and try and see the merits of the feedback. Not engaging with it or only focusing on positive points is a sure-fire way to getting the same grade and getting stuck in a loop.

Remind them not to take it personally. They should try and view it objectively and see it as a learning objective. Staff do not have a vendetta – they are giving their professional opinion and providing information to try and help them. They aren’t out to upset anyone.

They should also not be worried about their friend’s or others feedback. Everyone will be at a different stage and word of mouth information about a friend’s feedback or what someone has said in WhatsApp is not worth thinking about. Often students are focused on someone else’s feedback (e.g., friend/flatmate), but ultimately worrying about a friend’s grade won’t improve their grade and is wasted energy.

Potential activity: Dealing with Reviewer 2

To give them an example of the type of feedback academics will often receive and must work with, you could talk to them about any reviews you may have received (or any other forms of feedback). You could talk through any examples you have and any tips you have on processing feedback without taking it too personal.

Once you have addressed how to process feedback it is also worth going over how to make the most of it. You could start this section with a discussion point (see below) on what they currently do with feedback.

You could turn this into a discussion point and get them to discuss how they feel when receiving feedback and what they do with it once they have received it. It is interesting to hear their different strategies and to try and perhaps get some insight into why some students don’t engage with it and how they feel about it. Once you have heard their thoughts you can note that upon first receiving the feedback they may well feel elated, disappointed, or somewhere in between. As such, it is worth taking some time to let it is sink in (e.g., go for a walk etc.) before trying to work with it.

Once they have let it sink in though they should return to it and make a note of what they did well and what they need to improve upon. They can save this in a word document and create themselves a feedback portfolio where they can store all their feedback which can be incredibly useful. They can also download their assignment with the feedback and save this in a feedback folder. It doesn’t really matter how they go about it the key thing is that they collate their feedback in a useful manner so they can refer to it again.

They should make sure they are proud of what they have done well and reward themselves for this but also factor in what they need to work on and how they can go about doing this using the resources available to them. For example, if there are points relating to referencing or finding credible evidence, they can use the library online courses to help them with this. If they are unsure of where to finds resources to help them improve, they can discuss this with their Academic Mentor.

Another way in which they can use feedback to really get the most out of it, is to return to the feedback when they are completing their next assignment (when beginning it and prior to submission). Some students will do this intuitively, but some won’t have even considered doing this. This is where a feedback portfolio can be really useful (where they can have all their feedback in one document without trying to open 10 tabs of Turnitin!).

You can note that they can then use their feedback as a checklist to help guide their subsequent assignments. For instance, if they previously received praise for their range of sources, this is something which they will want to continue to do and can have some confidence in doing so. If, however, they received comments that their evaluation and critical analysis was lacking this is something they will want to spend a bit more time on.

Their previous feedback will therefore allow them to know where their time will be best spent and to get added value. As they gather more feedback, they will also start to be able to identify reoccurring themes and thus this will become a more useful resource.  

To encourage them engage with feedback you could get them to complete this worksheet  

By the end of this session they should now be able to:

• Identify different types of feedback

• Understand the importance of feedback

• Know how to access feedback

• Use the feedback they receive effectively

• A feedback toolkit has been developed by the Higher Eduaction Academy (HEA) which has lots of useful information: https://www.advance-he.ac.uk/knowledge-hub/hea-feedback-toolkit

• Naomi Winstone, Jessica Bourne, Emma Medland, Irina Niculescu & Roger Rees (2021) “Check the grade, log out”: students’ engagement with feedback in learning management systems, Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education, 46:4, 631-643, DOI: 10.1080/02602938.2020.1787331 https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/02602938.2020.1787331 

• Naomi E. Winstone, Robert A. Nash, James Rowntree & Michael Parker (2017) ‘It'd be useful, but I wouldn't use it’: barriers to university students’ feedback seeking and recipience, Studies in Higher Education, 42:11, 2026-2041, DOI: 10.1080/03075079.2015.1130032 https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/03075079.2015.1130032