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Feeding back
The importance of quality feedback amidst remote learning and staffing pressures .
By Wade Zaglas
Recent research led by Monash
University underscores the importance of assessment feedback , as well as revealing that both academic staff and students need to improve .
Limited time , large class sizes , declining student motivation and subpar staff feedback skills were identified in the report as being critical problems facing university staff and students .
Educators and students have had to adapt to COVID-19 and remote learning , and in the absence of face-to-face discussion , such feedback has never been more important . However , according to lead researcher Professor Michael Henderson , changes to tertiary funding brought about by the federal government will apply “ crippling ” pressure on staff and universities just when more resources are needed .
The study , titled ‘ The challenges of feedback in higher education , Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education ’ surveyed the views of staff and coursework students attending two Australian universities , comprising 3,807 student responses and 281 staff responses .
While the research project revealed “ widespread satisfaction ” with feedback , and pertinent examples of students being supported in learning and emotional wellbeing , the project also confirmed that some students and staff are continuing to experience many challenges , mostly related to receiving and delivering effective feedback .
For some students surveyed , effective feedback needed to be “ more individually tailored ” and be more “ detailed ”. In particular , they were seeking comments that would better equip them for future assignments and feedback that would “ identify gaps in their current performance ”.
“ Feedback is one of the most powerful factors impacting on student outcomes , but if feedback is to be successful it needs to be detailed , personalised and useful ,” Henderson says .
“ Staff and students are on the same page with this . Many staff reported an eagerness to deliver more specific feedback to each student but find themselves up against time constraints , made worse by large class sizes .
“ Providing detailed comments takes a great deal of time ,” Henderson says . “ Add to that large class sizes , and limited time allocation for marking .
“ But it ’ s not just time . Personalised comments require some degree of knowledge about the background and goals of students , which is also difficult with large classes , online students , and in a limited teaching period .”
Th report argues that the current pandemic , which requires hundreds of thousands of students to study remotely , creates “ even more limited opportunities for feedback ”. Students cannot access staff as readily as they once could , and staff – acutely aware of this situation – are both struggling and scrambling to discover more effective ways to engage their students .
Adding to the challenges is the fact that class sizes in Australian universities today have increased in terms of student diversity . While overseas students are integral to our economy and culture , they can further
complicate the feedback loop in a remote learning environment ; “ for example , [ they ] report feeling misunderstood by their teachers and receiving different treatment ”.
Other international students have reported “ generic approaches to marking ”, which might require more interrogation as a rubric is generic but should be flexible enough to account for students ' difference .
“ The comments of one health educator , quoted in the study , illuminate the types of pressures that educators face in today ’ s lecture halls : ‘ I would love to sit with each student and provide them opportunities to improve (…) but with 140-plus medical students doing many , many assessments each week it is simply not possible .’”
A science educator explained that “ it takes time to provide good , individualised feedback and the modern academic has very little of this . Workload allocation models provide only a few minutes per student .”
Henderson and his team also discovered that the “ new normal ” was affecting the university ’ s staff ’ s and students ’ attitude , levels of motivation and skill .
“ Staff indicated that students could be unmotivated and , more worryingly , not have the capability to effectively utilise the feedback that they were being provided ,” Henderson says .
“ Our research confirms that students are not necessarily receiving feedback that is useful , and when it is , need support to make the most of it .”
An undergraduate education student surveyed said : “ Actually teach our tutors what effective feedback is and perhaps assess some of their feedback . Some really have no clue and we need constructive feedback that empowers us to do better .”
Despite the student ’ s comments , Henderson believes delivering quality feedback is at the forefront of educators ’ minds .
“ However , they are facing serious challenges , not least the Federal Governments ’ crippling changes to tertiary funding which inevitably make it harder for universities to invest the much-needed resources , including staff time , into this critical area of student education ,” he said .
“ Universities need every encouragement to raise the importance of feedback , as well as supporting both staff and student capability in engaging with it effectively ,” he concluded . ■
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