Denise Whitelock

OpenMentor: Supporting Tutor Feedback to Students

Denise Whitelock

IET, The Open University,

Walton Hall, Milton Keynes MK7 6AA

e-mail: d.m.whitelock@open.ac.uk

DMW, IET, OpenMentor, April 2009

What is OpenMentor?

“ An open source mentoring tool for tutors”

“ Open source” = free and easy to use, and to embed in an institutions infrastructure and working practices

“ mentoring” = designed to help people learn how to give feedback effectively, through reflection and social networks

“ tutors” = primarily intended for teaching staff, but with clear applications for those involved in quality

Example TMA for analysis DMW, IET, OpenMentor, April 2009

Looking for patterns: Coding into Categories

Four main groupings

A. Positive reactions; agreeing and boosting the other person

B. Directing/teaching

C. Questions: requesting information, clarification etc

D. Negative reactions: disagreement

Coding the comments DMW, IET, OpenMentor, April 2009 Bales’ Interaction Process

Identifying trends: H801 DMW, IET, OpenMentor, April 2009 Graph to show conflated Bale’s categories against mean number of incidences in H801 scripts

How general is the model: Identifying trends DMW, IET, OpenMentor, April 2009 Pie Charts to show the mean number of incidences per conflated Bales Interactional Category for ‘Pass 1’ and ‘Pass 4’ in the following courses: Key: A = Positive reactions C = Questions B = Responses D = Negative reactions Pass 4 Pass 1 B820 S103 H801

Explaining OpenMentor’s Rules

Four categories

A – Positive Reactions

B – Attempted Answers

C – Questions

D – Negative Reactions

‘ A’ - Positive Reactions DMW, IET, OpenMentor, April 2009

‘ B’ Attempted Answers DMW, IET, OpenMentor, April 2009

‘ C’ Questions DMW, IET, OpenMentor, April 2009

‘ D’ Negative reactions DMW, IET, OpenMentor, April 2009

Example Rules

...you could... (B4)

...good...but... (B4)

...excellent analysis... (A1)

...this...does not.... (D10)

...what are... (C7)

...in my opinion... (B5)

Building the rule set DMW, IET, OpenMentor, April 2009

Is the rule set generic? DMW, IET, OpenMentor, April 2009

Does the empirical formalisation match tutors’ perceptions?

What implicit/explicit models do tutors have about marking assignments?

What training is given to tutors about marking assignments?

Do we hold the company line when marking?

Tutor questionnaire

Findings from students and tutors

Questionnaire n = 44, n = 47

Statistically significant findings

High grades = positive comments

Low grades = more suggestions, questions and answers

Low grades = more questions and = more answers

Other findings

Can support QA process

Interviewee believed OM counter the case where student failed due to lack of support on assignments

Good teacher training tool

Can save money and resources in training if used as web material

Given immediately to new recruits

Training consistent conveying University policy about student support in an explicit manner

The Big Questions ?

How can I improve?

As a novice how do I know what I don’t know?

Can I decode the feedback?

Do I have enough domain specific language for the teacher to understand the question?

Can I engage in a new dialogue with tutors and peers?

National Union of Students’ Principles of Effective Assessment Times Higher Education, 29 th January 2009

Should be for learning, not simply of learning

Should be reliable, valid, fair and consistent

Should consist of effective and constructive feedback

Should be innovative and have the capacity to inspire and motivate.

Should be conducted throughout the course, rather than being positioned as a final event

Should develop key skills such as peer and reflective assessment

Denise Whitelock

0 comments

Notes on slide 1

1 Group & 1 Event