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Welcome to the University of Leeds Building Capacity Project funded by JISC.
This illustrated toolkit or roadmap is one of the project’s outputs and it demonstrates
a recent ‘learning journey’ related to a university strategic priority. A key strand
of the Leeds Building Capacity project is how we draw on current external JISC-funded
projects to address the priority of improving effective feedback to our students. This project
aims to achieve this through the use of technologies.
So on this journey what did we do? Well at the outset we asked some questions:
* How can technologies support timely and effective feedback for students?
* Should we have different forms of feedback for different kinds of assessment
* Are some technologies contributing to enhancement or are they additional to existing feedback
practices?
In using audio and video technologies for example, we were also thinking about:
* Our teaching and learning styles * The need to distinguish between assessment
and feedback as a measurement of achievement – that is, the difference between feedback
that accompanies a mark and feedback or ‘feed-forward’ given formatively as a qualitative part of
the assessment process. * And finally is written feedback which is
still privileged over other forms, fitting for all students? Could technologies provide
other more suitable forms of feedback?
The next stage was to ‘explore’ the extensive JISC database for projects using audio and
video technologies in providing effective feedback. We selected six projects we thought
might be appropriate for the Leeds context.
Then we sought advice and endorsement from JISC on the adoption of the outputs from these
chosen projects. At this point we recognised the importance of a web presence for LBC and
began building a website to highlight both the external projects and later on our own
Leeds-based feedback projects. Do have a look at what we have done so far: www.sddu.leeds.ac.uk/lbc.
The next stage of the journey was to raise awareness and stimulate interest among our
academic and support staff in the use of these technologies. To do this we organised an event
called Effective Feedback Week – showcasing 3 JISC projects; ending the event with a roundtable
discussion to synthesise all the learning from the featured JISC projects. To initiate
our discussions 3 rapporteurs provided overviews each one.
Here is a snapshot of each of those project presentations which can be seen in full on
the LBC website. Click on the video clip for a short introduction to each project.
Firstly, I-Chant Chang from the Psychology department at the University of Aberystwyth
describes the AFAL project; a comparison of three different kinds of audio and video feedback
to students.
Secondly, Will Stewart from the University of Bradford describes the ASEL project in
collaboration with the University of Hertfordshire; focusing just on audio feedback across a range
of disciplines.
And thirdly, Julian Park from the University of Reading and Steve Maw from UK Centre for
Biosciences here at Leeds present the ASSET project, which included both Reading and Plymouth
Universities. ASSET highlights the benefits of audio/video ‘feed forward’ - helpful
information to prepare students for their assessments early on in the assessment lifecycle
prior to submission and also importantly rapid, generic feedback to students immediately after
students submit their work.
From the showcases, the roundtable discussion enabled us to reflect on our own practice
on the use and benefits of audio/video technologies in enhancing feedback. It is really important
to emphasise that this was not about a simple ‘cut’ and ‘paste’ from the JISC projects
but to use the outputs and outcomes as a catalyst for developing our own ideas fitting for our
varied disciplinary contexts.
In summary the following advantages were highlighted in our discussion;
* Using audio and video technologies is an effective way to keep students ‘warm’
and engaged in the assessment and feedback process
* That more feedback is possible in speaking than writing
* The student’s piece of work becomes the centre of staff and students’ attention
* And it is personalised * Also this form of feedback can be easily
stored and kept for posterity * Students can write notes from audio or video
feedback to reinforce learning * It can create the beginnings of a dialogue
about feedback and learning between staff and students
* And it can be applied across a range of assessments particularly those that are practice-based
We noted some particular challenges for both staff and students:
* Being able to access and have time to learn appropriate technologies
* Having time to produce and make accessible this form of feedback to students –easier
to do this with a group than one to one * How the student voice could be included
in creating a feedback dialogue * And how to disseminate examples effectively
across faculties * How would this form of feedback be viewed
for audit purposes – for example in the appeals process
* What about storage? The size of video files if using voice tools compared to audio files
or more traditional forms of feedback * University infrastructures and software
to support technologies and their costs?
Further challenges were observed: * Anonymous marking - how might this be managed?
* Being so personalised – with audio is this a problem for a student to have a tutor
in your ear?! And also with * Staff video recording their feedback for
public access – might there be resistance?
The group discussion concluded with ideas for further development
* Rapid generic feedback is particularly valuable when large groups of students are undertaking
the same assessment. Generic feedback following examinations could work well too
* The importance of using the student voice in providing feedback on certain assessments
for following cohorts of students to learn from.
* Staff could demonstrate via audio and video how modules and assessments had changed based
on feedback from students * Students could also produce video clips
of their own linking up their feedback across a number of assessments to synthesise their
learning * Why not adopt technologies already familiar
to students for example, the use of video * Using technologies for feedback also can
emphasise to students where feedback occurs in the assessment cycle – not just associated
with a summative mark * Further advantages were seen in the relative
economies of pocket video cameras compared to more expensive technologies, such as tablets
and voice recognition software
Some key action points then emerged: * Develop ‘easy-to-use’ guides for staff
and students * Pilot use of digital video cameras for generic,
‘fast feed-forward’ * Explore a university system for recording
and storage * Develop appropriate infrastructures for
support * Lastly, recruit ‘Champions’ to adopt
direct examples of audio/video feedback as pilots and also demonstrate good practice
In achieving our aims we now have ten effective feedback projects running across the university;
all inspired by the outputs and outcomes of the JISC projects. These will be available
on the LBC website over the coming academic year 2011/12 and the project leaders championing
this initiative will be disseminating their project outcomes at the Leeds Learning and
Teaching Conference, through the Leeds Student Education Bulletin and other internal and
external events.
Although ventures of this kind are inevitably ongoing and open-ended, it is clear that although
there are challenges in using audio and video technologies to improve feedback to students,
the innovative work within selected JISC-funded projects has been a catalyst to inspire us
with ideas for our own projects and enhancing our own practice. In so doing, this initiative
contributes to providing an exceptional student experience here at Leeds.
Definitely not the end! We acknowledge JISC’s significant contribution
to this roadmap.
Misung An, Dr Dragos Ciobanu, Dr Karen Llewellyn and Dr Vanessa Walker
University of Leeds May 2011