1. Kat Hearn and Dawn Reilly
Optional marked homework to prepare for unseen summative exams: The value of formative feedback
Kat Hearn and Dawn Reilly
Department of Accounting and Finance, Faculty of Business 
170223

2. The challenge The solution
How do we provide feedback to students without setting a mock exam which resembles the summative unseen exam either too closely or is not sufficiently relevant?
The solution
Our solution for Year 2 Financial Accounting and Year 3 Audit and Assurance modules is to provide optional ‘hand in’ homework.

3. Financial Accounting (level 5) Audit and Assurance (level 6)
What are the homeworks?
Financial Accounting (level 5)
Three largely numerical questions which build in difficulty
- Compulsory exam topic
- Mapped to specific lectures
Audit and Assurance (level 6)
Written questions containing:
A small theoretical component
A scenario based case study
Homework is strategically positioned:
to allow students time to practise the tutorial questions first and then ‘have a go’ themselves.
There is time to take on board feedback from homework 1 before attempting homework 2.

4. What feedback is given?
The homework is marked and annotated with written ‘red pen’ feedback, including a grade and comments. Additional guidance for re-sit students via if appropriate. Opportunity to discuss the feedback one-to-one at an appointment or in the support class.

5. Example - numerical 33/35 is an excellent mark. Well done.
Have a look at cash-in-transit and its relationship with the intercompany balances. There is a difference in the intercompany balances because Rose has recorded the payment of £4,000 (debit intercompany payable so it decreases from £16,000 to £12,000) but Garden has not yet received it so no receipt of cash has been recorded and its intercompany receivable remains at £16,000. Put through the adjustment to debit Garden’s bank; credit intercompany. The intercompany balances now agree (and can be eliminated on consolidation) and we have added the £4,000 back into the group’s bank asset.

6. Example - discursive You need to improve in 2 ways:
Writing more points – for part a you have written a very skeleton answer for 10 marks – you scored only 2. There was nothing else for me to award credit for. For part b for 20 marks again you have written very little – you must generate more ideas per deficiency. 2. Write with more detail – specifically for part b. Your answers are so vague. Really think about the deficiency and why it could be bad for the business. With the recommendation you need to state how it works.

7. Benefits to students - learning
The ‘red pen’ approach offers flexibility in the ability to comment on the work submitted and potential to identify where mistakes have been made and how a student can improve. All students know that they are welcome to hand in a partial answer if they get stuck and then, when it is returned, the tutor can suggest the next step to include. The grade provides useful information to students and encourages them to participate because they can monitor their progress through the tasks (Wu and Jessop, 2018).

8. The outcome
It helps students more accurately to benchmark their current performance level; and gives them the answer to “How do I close the gap?” (Brookhart, 2017, 3). Improved quality of answers from students in the homework tasks and exams (Grosas et al, 2016). Note: All students have access to the homework solutions after homework is returned

9. Benefits to students - satisfaction
By focussing on past exam questions, students see the tasks as relevant and therefore participate; the individual attention offered to students facilitates the creation of a supportive and positive learning environment which Dowden et al (2013) observe to enhance students’ perceptions of the feedback they receive. Enhanced student experience and satisfaction: “The hand in homework was very useful. I think that it improves the performance on the final exams because we already had a previous experience with similar exam questions”. (Course evaluation April 2018)

10. Challenges
Participation (20% to 30%)
Marking burden

11. References
Brookhart, SM (2017), How to Give Effective Feedback to Your Students, ASCD, 2nd edition
Dowden, T, Pittaway, S, Yost, H and McCarthy, R (2013), ‘Students’ perceptions of written feedback in teacher education: ideally feedback is a continuing two- way communication that encourages progress’, Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education, 38:3,
Grosas, AB, Raju, SR, Schuett, BS, Chuck J-A and Millar, TJ (2016), ‘Determining if active learning through a formative assessment process translates to better performance in summative assessment’, Studies in Higher Education, 41:9,
Wu, Q and Jessop, T (2018), ‘Formative assessment: missing in action in both research-intensive and teaching focused universities?’, Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education, 43:7,

12. Thank you
Any questions?