1. Analysing student response to feedback in practical chemistry courses
Dr Pippa Coffer
Department of Chemistry

2. Talk Outline Why is feedback important?
Methods of assessment and feedback in practical chemistry
Turnitin®
Analysis of student engagement with feedback
Changes for this academic year

3. Why is feedback important?
Feedback is important for everyone
Builds confidence
Provides a focus for improvement
NSS assessment and feedback questions
Feedback on my work has helped me clarify things I did not understand
I have received detailed comments on my work
Feedback on my work has been prompt
Providing effective feedback in a timely fashion is key

4. Assessment and Feedback in Chemistry Labs
Verbal Feedback
Written Feedback
Practical
Practical skills
General lab practice
Sample quality & quantity
Quality of spectra or data
Post-lab reports
Pre-lab Exercises
Post-lab reports

5. Interviews An additional method of assessment and feedback
A minute “interview” with a senior demonstrator to discuss the experiment, results and the background chemistry
Process
Student completes an experiment in the laboratory
Student prepares and submits a lab report
Student has “interview” during the following lab session

6. Interviews Receive immediate feedback
Students have the opportunity to ask questions
Can discuss any queries about the chemistry
One to one personal feedback!
Student feedback suggests:
Very useful to ensure understanding of the chemical principles
Sometimes did not provide sufficient feedback on the laboratory report itself
Dislike the term “interviews”

7. Turnitin® Antiplagiarism software check for originality of work
Drag and drop comments
provide quick and consistent feedback by creating a set of QuickMarks
Verbal feedback
feedback as voice comments
Rubric
for additional breakdown of marks
See for further information
Images from “Turnitin_Instructor_User_Manual” from (accessed 12/09/16)

8. Turnitin® Also monitor student engagement with feedback:
Icon appears if a submitted laboratory report is viewed for > 30 seconds
Image from “Turnitin_Instructor_User_Manual” from (accessed 12/09/16)

9. Practical Chemistry 2 - Inorganic
Students complete 4 weeks of inorganic laboratory sessions (8 full days)
Alternating week pattern:
Complete a total of 6 experiments and 6 laboratory reports:
Week: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
Group A/D
Group B/C
2 day experiments
1 day experiments
Exp. 1 – Stereochemistry and electronic structure of Ni(II) chelate complexes
Exp. 2 – Silicones
Exp. 3 – Isomers: Resolution of the [Co(en)3]3+ ion
Exp. 4 – Job’s method
Exp. 5 – Clathrates
Exp. 6 – Conductimetry

10. Practical Chemistry 2 - Inorganic
Exp. 1 – Stereochemistry and electronic structure of Ni(II) chelate complexes
Exp. 2 – Silicones
Exp. 3 – Isomers: Resolution of the [Co(en)3]3+ ion
Exp. 4 – Job’s method
Exp. 5 – Clathrates
Exp. 6 – Conductimetry
2 day experiments
1 day experiments
All laboratory reports were submitted online via turnitin®
Two day experiments
Assessment based on both laboratory report and interview
Reports “pre-marked” using drag and drop comments, in addition to an interview
One day experiments
Assessment based solely on the reports
Written feedback provided using “drag and drop” comments, no interview

11. Initial results of analysis for all experiments
Figure 1: Percentage of laboratory reports viewed by week number where the red bars represent Group A/D, and the blue bars represent Group B/C.

12. Further analysis: marked and interviewed
Figure 2: Percentage of Experiment 1 and 2 laboratory reports viewed (marked and interviewed) where the red bars represent Group A/D and the blue bars represent Group B/C

13. Further analysis: marked only, no interview
Figure 3: Percentage of Experiment 3, 4, 5 and 6 laboratory reports viewed (1 day experiments – no interviews) where the red bars represent Group A/D and the blue bars represent Group B/C

14. Further analysis…
Figure 4: Number of laboratory reports viewed by assessment method where the orange bars are “marked and interviewed”, and the green bars are “marked, no interview”.

15. This coming academic year
Two 1-day experiments (formative)
Completed in first week of lab course
All students complete the same experiments
Submit a lab report for each
Feedback lecture the following week
Two “2-day” experiments (summative)
Reports not pre-marked
Each interviewed by a single staff member
All feedback given in interview
Two 1-day experiments (summative)
Reports marked using drag and drop comments
No interview

16. Is sometimes too much feedback too much?
Summary
Turnitin®
Very useful
Antiplagiarism tool
Providing feedback in a variety of forms
Can be used to quickly monitor student engagement with feedback
Feedback in laboratory classes
Variety appears to be the key
pre-lab quizzes
feedback in lab sessions
lab report marked online
interviews
Is sometimes too much feedback too much?

17. Thank you for listening! Any questions?