What feedback do Political Science Students Want? Lessons from a British perspective Alasdair Blair...

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What feedback do Political Science Students Want? Lessons from a British perspective Alasdair Blair [email protected] Paper presented at the American Political Studies Association Teaching and Learning Conference, Washington DC, 17 th -19 th February, 2012

Transcript of What feedback do Political Science Students Want? Lessons from a British perspective Alasdair Blair...

Page 1: What feedback do Political Science Students Want? Lessons from a British perspective Alasdair Blair ablair@dmu.ac.uk Paper presented at the American Political.

What feedback do Political Science Students Want?

Lessons from a British perspective

Alasdair Blair

[email protected]

Paper presented at the American Political Studies Association Teaching and Learning Conference, Washington

DC, 17th-19th February, 2012

Page 2: What feedback do Political Science Students Want? Lessons from a British perspective Alasdair Blair ablair@dmu.ac.uk Paper presented at the American Political.

Context of change

• Professionalisation – ILTHE/HEA

• Student voice – NSS

• Gov’t involvement - QAA

Page 3: What feedback do Political Science Students Want? Lessons from a British perspective Alasdair Blair ablair@dmu.ac.uk Paper presented at the American Political.

Value of Feedback• Clarifies good performance• Facilitates reflective learning• Students get info about their learning• Encourages peer dialogue• encourages positive motivation• Close gap between current and desired

performance• Provides information to shape teaching

Page 4: What feedback do Political Science Students Want? Lessons from a British perspective Alasdair Blair ablair@dmu.ac.uk Paper presented at the American Political.

I receive written feedback on my assignments

Page 5: What feedback do Political Science Students Want? Lessons from a British perspective Alasdair Blair ablair@dmu.ac.uk Paper presented at the American Political.

I receive written feedback on my examination scripts

Page 6: What feedback do Political Science Students Want? Lessons from a British perspective Alasdair Blair ablair@dmu.ac.uk Paper presented at the American Political.

Written feedback helps my learning

Page 7: What feedback do Political Science Students Want? Lessons from a British perspective Alasdair Blair ablair@dmu.ac.uk Paper presented at the American Political.

Tutors expect me to use feedback to improve

Page 8: What feedback do Political Science Students Want? Lessons from a British perspective Alasdair Blair ablair@dmu.ac.uk Paper presented at the American Political.

I receive verbal feedback on my assignments

Page 9: What feedback do Political Science Students Want? Lessons from a British perspective Alasdair Blair ablair@dmu.ac.uk Paper presented at the American Political.

I receive verbal feedback on my examination scripts

Page 10: What feedback do Political Science Students Want? Lessons from a British perspective Alasdair Blair ablair@dmu.ac.uk Paper presented at the American Political.

I have tutorials to discuss my assignment feedback

Page 11: What feedback do Political Science Students Want? Lessons from a British perspective Alasdair Blair ablair@dmu.ac.uk Paper presented at the American Political.

I receive feedback via audio files

Page 12: What feedback do Political Science Students Want? Lessons from a British perspective Alasdair Blair ablair@dmu.ac.uk Paper presented at the American Political.

I receive feedback via email

Page 13: What feedback do Political Science Students Want? Lessons from a British perspective Alasdair Blair ablair@dmu.ac.uk Paper presented at the American Political.

Aware of the timescale for providing feedback?

Page 14: What feedback do Political Science Students Want? Lessons from a British perspective Alasdair Blair ablair@dmu.ac.uk Paper presented at the American Political.

Opportunity to be involved in peer assessment

Page 15: What feedback do Political Science Students Want? Lessons from a British perspective Alasdair Blair ablair@dmu.ac.uk Paper presented at the American Political.

Findings

• What is feedback?

• What type of feedback is helpful?

• What type of feedback is unhelpful?

• The amount of feedback provided

• The timeliness of feedback

• Areas where feedback can be improved

Page 16: What feedback do Political Science Students Want? Lessons from a British perspective Alasdair Blair ablair@dmu.ac.uk Paper presented at the American Political.

What do students regard feedback to be?

• Written feedback

• Verbal feedback

Page 17: What feedback do Political Science Students Want? Lessons from a British perspective Alasdair Blair ablair@dmu.ac.uk Paper presented at the American Political.

What type of feedback is helpful?

• I prefer written feedback as I will then be able to look back over it when writing my next assignment to see what I can improve.

• Verbal - able to question and gain further understanding to make sure it is constructive.

Page 18: What feedback do Political Science Students Want? Lessons from a British perspective Alasdair Blair ablair@dmu.ac.uk Paper presented at the American Political.

What type of feedback is unhelpful?

• unreadable writings written on my essay.

• Overly critical

• Queuing tutorials

• Production line feedback

Page 19: What feedback do Political Science Students Want? Lessons from a British perspective Alasdair Blair ablair@dmu.ac.uk Paper presented at the American Political.

The amount of feedback provided

• No exam feedback!

Page 20: What feedback do Political Science Students Want? Lessons from a British perspective Alasdair Blair ablair@dmu.ac.uk Paper presented at the American Political.

The timeliness of feedback

• the feedback timescale referred to is largely redundant at present

• late! too late.

Page 21: What feedback do Political Science Students Want? Lessons from a British perspective Alasdair Blair ablair@dmu.ac.uk Paper presented at the American Political.

Areas where feedback can be improved

• Upload feedback on blackboard

• Given in an email

• Shortly as possible after the assignment

• Longer office hours

• It should be automatic

Page 22: What feedback do Political Science Students Want? Lessons from a British perspective Alasdair Blair ablair@dmu.ac.uk Paper presented at the American Political.

Conclusion

• Timely

• Readable

• Constructive

• Accessible

• Consistent

• Dialogic

• Developmental