1. Improving Students’ understanding of Feedback
Deborah Murdoch Eaton, Professor of Medical Education (Medical Education Unit)
Alastair Brown, medical student

2. alternative title: Feedback – Misunderstood or just not recognized?

3. National Student Survey
All final year students at HE institutions
Rate 1-5 agreement with 22 statements about HE experience
The teaching on my course
Assessment and Feedback
Organisation and management
Learning Resources
Personal Development
Overall satisfaction

4. NSS – inevitably used for ranking
University of Leeds
“Overall satisfaction” 82% agreement (score 4 or 5)
Ranked / 145

5. National Student Survey: “assessment and feedback” questions
The criteria used in marking have been clear in advance
Feedback assignments and marking have been fair
Feedback on my work has been prompt
I have received detailed comments on my work
Feedback on my work has helped me clarify things I did not understand

6. Assessment and Feedback category
Nationally the “lowest” rated category
62% agreement rating 4/5 nationally
55% Univ Leeds overall
48% Medicine / Dentistry ( from 41% 2006)
Compared with other medical schools?
Range 19 – 56% agreement

7. “Feedback” : Leeds School of Medicine
What do students (and staff), understand by “feedback”?
Can we do it better / do we need to do it better?

8. Feedback Group with students – (2006/7)
Nominated representatives across all student years
Focus group technique to explore understanding amongst student body
Working group to consider where to go to from here
Feedback study 2007/8 with focus groups from each year

9. What are your students’ experiences or views on the feedback they get?
What sort of responses have you had / do you think you might have from surveying a cohort of your students?
What would they raise?
Discuss
Come back with a few examples

10. Feedback group 2006/7 – key findings
Lots of positives about recent changes (P3)
Misunderstandings
Difference between feedback on the course cf feedback on their work back to students
Why feedback not instantaneous
When / how / why they get feedback
How to get more or judge if they need more

11. Focus groups 2007
"The last group I met was Year 5 students who had a different perspective on feedback, what they thought they had received, how they responded to it and its’ value. This group of students started the session by saying that the only feedback they received was from their grade, but on discussion it became clear that they had received a great deal of feedback throughout their training. This included written feedback from SSCs, self-scoring tests, information from lecturers about questions in tests, daily feedback from the consultants on their teams, their appraisals, peer feedback when they work or study together and from their own reflection on the feedback they have received, making changes and developing."

12. Early in course - insecurity
“I don’t find negative feedback helpful, it undermines my confidence and leaves me feeling like I can’t do anything”
“getting feedback from friends might not be helpful as they might just be being nice not wanting to hurt your feelings”
“positive feedback can make you complacent”

13. What is done with feedback
“I don’t do anything with feedback when I get it”
“SSCs are the only part of the course where we get feedback, and it is not an important part of the course”
“I just file good comments or good grades”

14. Types of feedback – lack of specificity
“ ‘More Effort Required’ is a comment that is often put on work when giving bad marks, but you may have put in a lot of effort so this comment isn’t helpful”
“ a tick by a paragraph wasn’t helpful as it doesn’t make you do anything differently”

15. Feedback groups – key findings
Lots of positives about recent changes (P3)
Misunderstandings
Difference between feedback on the course cf feedback on their work back to students
Why feedback not instantaneous
When / how / why they get feedback
How to get more or judge if they need more
Recognising when they get it (particularly if not individual / one-to-one or face-to-face)

16. What is feedback
“group work and (peer) presentations / discussion is not feedback – its just chat to fill in time”
“discussions during tutorials or …. to the whole lecture theatre are not proper feedback – are they?”
“……….can’t give you feedback as they don’t know you and anyway the answer is either right or wrong”

17. So – moving forward from this….

18. Key Issues – for staff / teachers
That the students actually do get feedback
timely feedback
Quality of feedback
SMART
Understandable to students

19. What can we do to improve students’ understanding of the feedback they do get?
Discuss
Ideas or examples of good practice / innovations you have tried

20. Year 3 project (student selected component) – summer 2007
Literature review on good practice in feedback
Identify and develop ways of improving students understanding of feedback in the medical course
Staff
students

21. What’s in the literature (HE not just medicine)
Principles of Good Feedback
Gibbs & Simpson Does your assessment support your students’ learning. J Teaching Learning in Higher Education
Phil Race – website + literature
Engaging Students with Assessment Feedback: what works
FDTL5 project – literature review, HEA website
NSS Institutional Case Studies
HEA website

22. Key aspects of “good and effective” feedback from literature
Students and staff must have a clear and mutual understanding of the desired learning outcomes of a learning activity
Feedback is provided in a timely fashion, and in sufficient detail. It should focus on the performance of the student in achieving the desired outcomes

23. Key aspects of “good and effective” feedback from literature (2)
Feedback is recognised as being given
Feedback is attended to and understood
Feedback is acted upon

24. Feedback project 2007/8
Evaluate students’ understanding of purpose of feedback, and its’ role in their learning
Evaluate whether an electronic resource is helpful in improving this
(increase staff awareness of good feedback practice)

25. Key points Staff liaison to ensure
Review of resource and contents for their ICU
Publicise and direct students to it at appropriate times eg after assessment results
Staff able to access the resources

26. 2007/8 Feedback Study Beginning of academic year Focus groups
Each year
Understanding of feedback
Views on how best to launch the resource
Questionnaire to whole school
Staff liaison
Launch of electronic resource
End of academic year

27. Development of “Feedback” resource
Key elements
Information about what is purpose of feedback
When and how they get feedback
What to do with it
How to judge if you need more and how to get it

28. What’s on the site? http://www.leeds.ac.uk/medicine/mbchb/feedback/
principles of good feedback
how to get the most out of feedback.
Individual ICU / SSC mapping
where to get feedback, in relation to specific learning outcomes for that ICU.
Links to the full learning outcomes for each ICU.
Links to explain how to go about
obtaining
using different types of feedback.

30. Outcome???
Improved student understanding of role of feedback in their learning
Use and recognition of wider range of resources for feedback
Improved staff awareness of role of feedback / mechanisms / highlighting for students
Improved NSS scores