Health Sciences and Practice Subject Centre Assessment Special Interest Group Meeting

Exploring the National Student Survey: Assessment and feedback issues 13/05/2008 Presented by Williams.J, Kane.D (2008)

Key Recommendations

• Data collected from institutional of NSS surveys provides a major source of information on students perceptions of their learning experience and should be used to inform enhancement-led activities to benefit students learning experiences • Develop institutional student feedback and action cycles to inform continuous quality improvement processes. Highlighting areas of good practice and high priority areas for action

• Use data indicatively to identify areas for further investigation. Analysis should explore the specific reasons behind items that cause concern.

• Actions taken as a result of feedback received must be made transparent and communicated clearly to students • Recognise that effective change cannot be implemented in the short-term and requires concerted action over many years

Effective Practices identified

• Setting realistic targets for achievable turnaround time on assessed work • Making the schedule of feedback on assignments clearer to students • Timetabling of assignments more evenly through the academic year to avoid bottlenecks • Instituting an effective monitoring system for the timing and placing of assessments • Providing more timely feedback through activities such as assessment in class time • Increasing the number of staff to ensure better staff-student contact on feedback issues • Providing feedback in alternative

• Increasing the number of staff to ensure better staff student contact on feedback issues • Providing feedback in alternative forms • Involving students in feedback processes, for example, using them as co-ordinators • Introducing standardised feedback systems, such as standardised forms, hand-in and return procedures • Ensuring feedback is given promptly and not delayed by external moderation • Auditing practice within an institution and encouraging the spread of effective practice

• Ensuring that assessed work provides a basis for future improvement by: a) Indicating how future improvement might be achieved b) Ensuring learning structures (such as semesterised modules) do not foreclose on the possibility of improvement • Using one-to-one tutorials for feedback on assessed work

Some questions …

• To what extent are these recommendations and practices occurring in your institutions ?

• Do you have such examples of good practice • How can we foster the development of these recommendations and examples of good practice within our areas ?

Contact Us

• Health Sciences and Practice Subject Centre • [email protected]

www.health.heacademy.ac.uk