The pros and cons of using audio feedback to support student learning Dr Darren Comber Centre for Learning & Teaching Dr Lindsay McPherson School of Biological Sciences

Outcomes What? Why? How? Does it work?

1. What? PG Certificate programme 2010 Staff as students Small number (n=16) Formative assessment (low risk)

1. What? Formative assessment: 1.Improve student learning 2.Opportunity for feedback 3.Clarifies what good performance looks like 4.Compare current progress with desired goals 5.Motivational – positive

2. Why? “…there is strong evidence that feedback messages are invariably complex and difficult to decipher, and that students require opportunities to construct actively an understanding of them…before they can be used to regulate performance.” (Nicol & McFarlane-Dick, 2006: 201)

2. Why? 1.Speaking can be quicker than typing 2.Miscommunication / alignment / nuance 3.Making sound files is becoming quicker, cheaper and easier Why not?

Generation Y?

3. How? 1.Acquire digital dictaphone with onboard USB 2.Record feedback on the dictaphone (saved as.mp3) 3.Plug the dictaphone directly into the PC 4.Drag & drop.mp3 files to their own folder 5.Rename, check then attach to

3. How? Digital dictaphone Your PC

3. How? Files automatically segmented No software involved No technical knowledge beyond attaching files to s 3 mins feedback: 4mb Sony ICD-UX70 digital dictaphone (cost c. £80) 1Gb can record 290 hours

4. Does it work? 1.Recipients really liked it – Personal – Nuanced – Feedback is threaded (+ and a single -) 2.Easy and quick 3.Data protection: same as written files 4.Generated lots of interest already

Things I learned whilst trying this Muttering in the corner… Divert the phone Waving the dictaphone Indicative notes can help Easy to get carried away Double-check recipient No it doesn’t work if the recipient is deaf

Case Study - Audio feedback for large classes

Case study – audio feedback for large classes Level 3 SBS skills course (~130 students) Produce sections of report and receive feedback (summative) Produce final report (summative) 1. Hand in draft intro & materials and methods 2. Peer review another students’ intro & materials and methods 3. Hand in draft results and discussion 4. Peer review another students’ results and discussion 5. Hand in final report FEEDBACK

Research Questions 1.Is there a difference in marks for final report between students given audio or written feedback? 2.Is there a difference in the time it takes to produce the feedback? 3.What attitudes do the students have about the two feedback methods?

What did we do? Randomly split class in half using random number generator Told class we would be giving two feedback types and why but didn’t indicate which we thought was better Measured the amount of time it took to mark and give feedback for each piece of work After receiving all feedback students given a questionnaire about their attitudes

Preliminary Results - groups No difference in median CAS grades achieved in exercises between groups

Preliminary Results - time Time taken to give feedback appears to be much less for audio feedback Difference in time depends on length of work (up to 4 minutes difference per student = 8.5 hours!)

How was it for staff? It was less stressful – Able to remain fresh – Easier to prepare meaningful comments – Prevents monotonously writing the same things over and over again (possibly leading to illegibility) Able to give more information overall Able to give lots of encouragement Not able to change small-scale issues in text (e.g. punctuation etc.)

How was it for students? Students currently filling out a questionnaire on how they found the different types of feedback Specifically asked about: – Usefulness of feedback Relevance Clarity Did they learn from it? – Whether they thought that feedback method type would affect marks

Final results will be in in a few weeks!