1.
Jisc Digital Festival 2014
Promoting feedback dialogue using technology:
why, how and lessons learned
Rola Ajjawi
University of Dundee
Gunter Saunders
University of Westminster
Peter Chatterton
Daedalus e-World Ltd
r.ajjawi@dundee.ac.uk
g.saunders@westminster.ac.uk
peter.chatterton@daedalus-e-world.com

2.
Jisc Digital Festival 2014
Session objectives
• Discuss the value of feedback dialogue to student learning
and the student experience
• Compare and contrast two Jisc-funded projects aiming to
promote feedback dialogue

3.
Jisc Digital Festival 2014
Two case study projects
Jisc Assessment and Feedback programme
(part of the e-learning programme)
http://www.jisc.ac.uk/whatwedo/programmes/elearning/assessmentandfeedback.aspx
• University of Dundee
– Interactive Assessment and Collaboration via Technology (InterACT)
http://blog.dundee.ac.uk/interact/
– http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S5bBFEbXDD0
• University of Westminster
– Making Assessment Count (MAC)
– http://www.makingassessmentcount.ac.uk

4.
Jisc Digital Festival 2014
Activity 1
Discuss in your small groups:
What is feedback dialogue?
Why bother?

5.
Jisc Digital Festival 2014
Summary of the problems associated with monologic feedback
 Lack of learner engagement with feedback
 Lack of understanding of feedback
 Transmitted feedback creates dependency on teacher
 No evidence of feed forward
 Not utilising self- and peer- feedback
 Lack of a shared context for assessment for teacher and
learner
 High teacher effort— low efficiency
 Reduced staff satisfaction as developmental potential of
feedback not seen

6.
Jisc Digital Festival 2014
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S5bBFEbXDD0

7.
Jisc Digital Festival 2014
About InterACT

8.
Jisc Digital Festival 2014
What’s the evidence for the value of feedback dialogue?
InterACT Project
• A longitudinal perspective on student development could be
fostered that is tailored to the individual learner
• The majority of our students and staff agreed that interACT
promoted feedback dialogue (there was evidence of student-tutor
dialogue within and across modules)
• Students valued the structured nature of the feedback that aligned
with assessment criteria. The process engaged them in self-
reflection and evaluation of performance
• The cover page encouraged seeking of feedback and prompted
feedforward
• Students valued the dialogue with students and satisfaction at
seeing their feedback being used by students in their learning
• The process increased time investment for students and staff but
this was offset by reductions in the number of assignments across
the programme

9.
Jisc Digital Festival 2014
What’s the evidence for the value of feedback dialogue?
InterACT quotes
• “[interACT] did force my reflective process in the end to have one last look
without changing anything on my self-evaluation, it is not something that I
think I would have naturally done, I think I would have just said, Ok, I have
worked this as much as I can possibly do right now, I will just hand it over.”
Interview Student 3
• “I have been able to engage in more of a dialogue with whoever has
graded it, which has allowed a little more personality exchange and a little
more support, when you feel that there is someone at the other end
actually looking at what you are working so hard at and treating you as a
person.” Interview Student 4
• “[Before interACT dialogue] was just not a built in thing, so I think if you
were rushed or timid or maybe even insecure about the work that you
were doing, it would have been a little more intimidating [to email the
tutor] … I like this better, as there is an element of expectation that there
will be some dialogue.” Interview student 3
• “It’s certainly improved my feedback in terms of definitely quantity and
hopefully quality as well so I’m giving more information now because I’m
being constantly prompted.” Interview Tutor 3

10.
Jisc Digital Festival 2014
What’s the evidence for the value of feedback dialogue?
MAC Evaluation:
– MAC processes help to improve student performance and satisfaction as follows:
• Develops expectations and understanding of the demands of an HE education;
• Develops skills & good practice required for study in HE;
• Promotes engagement & collaboration between tutors and peers in reviewing
and acting on feedback;
• Develops reflective and autonomous approaches to learning and use of
feedback;
• Creates and/or strengthens personal development planning/personal tutorials
to ensure an equitable experience for all students.
…..based on evidence derived from student testimony gathered through focus groups and
questionnaires from four institutions
– Four taxonomies of MAC usage have been mapped to accepted best practice
principles of assessment, feedback and personal development planning showing
that they all lead to pedagogically sound approaches aligned with “assessment for
learning” principles.

11.
Jisc Digital Festival 2014
What’s the evidence for the value of feedback dialogue?
MAC quotes……
• “I think the most beneficial aspects of this process is that not only
can you get feedback from your tutor but also from peers to see
what they think of your work, and how it can be improved”.
• “My Personal Tutor was most useful for me because we just went
through everything that I had a question on and I was given an
answer so I found that the most helpful feedback – the one-on-one
interaction and actually speaking to someone.
• “I found the peer assessment beneficial. It was a new approach
where the strengths and weaknesses of my plan were explored,
accompanied by constructive comments that gave me confidence in
my essay writing capabilities but also points for consideration to
help me improve my essay further.

12.
Jisc Digital Festival 2014
About MAC
MAC emphasises assessment for learning with a major focus on
students reflecting on assignments and acting on feedback.

13.
Jisc Digital Festival 2014
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jPzyksXuN5
M&feature=em-upload_owner

14.
Jisc Digital Festival 2014
About MAC
Approach Characteristics
MAC Self
Review
Student completes online questionnaire/survey in e-Reflect system.
System processes responses to generate feedback report customised to
student responses. Student left to independently utilise the output.
MAC Engage As above but student additionally writes a reflective passage in light of
the feedback report and shares this with tutor for input, comment online.
MAC PDP As above but tutor and student hold a specific meeting (face to face or
online) in order to place the feedback + engagement in the wider context
to the student’s course and personal development. A specific output is a
personal plan for going forward (some institutions focus on “feed-
forward”).
MAC Peer
Review
As above, and includes peer feedback/review as well as staged formative
feedback.
MAC: four broad taxonomies of use:

15.
Jisc Digital Festival 2014
Key themes, issues and lessons learned
1. Reconceptualisation of feedback
2. Staff and learner workloads
3. Technology as an enabler
4. Moving from (funded) pilots to main-streaming

16.
Jisc Digital Festival 2014
1. Reconceptualisation of feedback
• Need to move from one-off ,
episodic–based feedback to
longitudinal approaches to feedback,
dialogue and action on feedback.
• Need to consider overall curriculum
structure and sequencing of
assignments plus importance of
formative tasks and peer feedback.
• Need to consider changing the
landscape of teaching …..moving
away from didactic teaching towards
an assessment for learning agenda.
Lessons learned Issues to overcome
• Modular structures can inhibit longitudinal
approaches.
• Reconceptualising feedback may require
re-thinking overall curriculum design or at
least assessment.
• Quality and parity of experience around
feedback & feedback dialogue needs to be
addressed.
• Assessment for learning agendas place
greater responsibilities on students.
• Students and staff need to engage in
thinking about the purpose of feedback
(student education & fac dev essential).

17.
Jisc Digital Festival 2014
2. Staff and learner workloads
Lessons learned Issues to overcome
• Requires investment of time from staff
which has to be mostly offset through
economies in other ways (e.g. reducing
overall number of assessment tasks).
• Staff and student workloads around
A&F need to be rationalised e.g. to
avoid bunching.
• Better to engender habits of reflection
& dialogue in students early-on as part
of induction into HE study.
• Staff and students valued feedback
dialogue despite the time
commitment.
• Staff have high work-loads, particularly
at end-of module marking periods.
• Staff have no space left in their
timetable.
• Staff and students do not necessarily
perceive that investment in feedback
dialogue will improve student
performance and satisfaction.

18.
Jisc Digital Festival 2014
3. Technology as an enabler
Lessons learned Issues to overcome
• Technology, as an information
management /communications
system, is crucial to support A&F,
dialogue and longitudinal
approaches.
• Technologies can introduce
efficiencies and stimulate dialogue.
• Institutional infrastructures have not
kept up with the need to underpin
“assessment for learning”
approaches.
• The need for “information management”
highlights problems in terms of
infrastructure e.g. standards, which
systems to use and systems integration.
• Assessment for learning/student centred
approaches raise issues of which
technologies are most appropriate to
underpin learning (e.g. VLE/e-portfolio?).
• VLEs can offer constraints in terms of
implementing longitudinal A&F
approaches.
• Do students or staff consider e-
feedback/e-contact time as “real” contact
time (e.g. wrt NSS feedback).

19.
Jisc Digital Festival 2014
4. Moving from (funded) pilots to mainstreaming
Lessons learned Issues to overcome
• There is no clear evidence of successful
wide-spread institutional
mainstreaming of re-conceptualised
approaches to A&F.
• It is possible to view the pilot
approaches as key in preparing students
for the demands of HE study and
developing their assessment and
feedback “literacy”.
• Staff/student satisfaction can be a
strong motivator.
• Pilot projects used their experiences to
develop guidelines for mainstreaming.
• There is a need to demonstrate benefits
of new A&F approaches and to
overcome staff resistance and student
perceptions.
• There is a need to integrate new A&F
approaches into institutional strategies,
plans and processes.
• There is a need to integrate new A&F
approaches into support services.
• There is a need to influence and engage
key stakeholders.
• There is a need to address technology
infrastructure as this can inhibit main-
streaming.

20.
Jisc Digital Festival 2014
Promoting feedback dialogue using technology:
why, how and lessons learned
Rola Ajjawi
University of Dundee @r_ajjawi
Gunter Saunders
University of Westminster @saundeg
Peter Chatterton
Daedalus e-World Ltd @balham
r.ajjawi@dundee.ac.uk
g.saunders@westminster.ac.uk
peter.chatterton@daedalus-e-world.com