Staff assessment guide

Assessment Feedback Staff guide to effective professional practice

College Values

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Placing the student at the heart of all we do Showing fairness, courtesy and mutual respect Teaching and learning as the key to our success Aspiring to excellence: quality is everyone’s responsibility Working together to get the best results Empowering others to achieve their full potential

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Assessment Feedback Assessment and feedback is a centrally important feature of teaching and learning work for both teachers and students. At Blackpool and The Fylde College we perform well in National Student Surveys (NSS) on assessment and feedback and our students report some really excellent practices, of which we should be justifiably proud. This guide aims to examine and re-examine assessment and feedback in the higher education context to provide structured refreshment and in some cases revision of assessment and feedback practice for individuals and academic teams.

One of the many goals of higher education is to increase independence, autonomy and self-regulation in our undergraduate students. This process is progressive and should be scaffolded from level 4 through to level 6. Our approaches to assessment and feedback can have the effect of increasing those skills in students and as we shall see, some of our practices may have an unforeseen and adverse effect on the learning behaviours of our students.

The QAA, through the UK Quality Code for Higher Education, has sharpened its focus on the assessment of the learning outcomes and the Code reinforces the expectations and indicators of this approach to assessment.

The expectation is that:

“ Higher education providers ensure that students have appropriate opportunities to show they have achieved the intended learning outcomes for the award of a qualification or credit.” and…

“ Higher education providers ensure the assessment of students is robust, valid and reliable and that the award of qualifications and credits are based on the achievement of the intended learning outcomes.” (QAA 2012) It is important that the assessment tasks mirror the Learning Outcomes since, as far as the students are concerned, the assessment is the curriculum:

“From our students’ point of view, assessment always defined the actual curriculum.”

(Ramsden, 1992) For teachers, summative assessment comes at the end of the learning experience, after the exciting and engaging teaching and learning activities which we provide for students to help them achieve the outcomes, have taken place.

One of the prime concerns of students as they begin a programme or new module of study is with what they have to do to succeed, to pass, to do well. Students want to know about assessment.

Biggs and Tang (2007) represent this graphically as follows:

“ To the teacher, assessment is at the end of the teaching-learning sequence of events, but to the student it is at the beginning. If the curriculum is reflected in the assessment, as indicated by the downward arrow, the teaching activities of

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the teacher and the learner activities of the learner are both directed towards the same goal. In preparing for the assessment, students will be learning the curriculum” (Biggs and Tang 2007) Teacher Perspective Learning Outcomes

Assessment

Objectives

Teaching & Learning Activities

Assessment

Objectives

Teaching & Learning activities

Learning Outcomes

Student Perspective

What does Assessment do?

Assessment - Diagnostic • Helps the student identify for themselves their aptitude and ability for a particular kind of learning as well as specific areas they need to focus on • Helps the teaching team to adjust teaching and learning strategies according to the cohort of students • Signals the need for additional support where needed • Feedback from the diagnostic activity allays anxiety about assessment and builds confidence at the start of the academic journey

Formative • Engages students in a dialogue with the tutor about their individual learning and development • Forward-looking to support the development of future work • Encourages students to be reflective and self-aware • Sets out clearly what is required for academic practice at this level • Can correct errors and iron out any possible misconceptions • Helps the tutor to identify individualised targets for remedial work or work that will stretch and challenge • Provides the opportunity to build student confidence and self-esteem through experiencing success

Summative • Provides judgements on the extent to which the assessment criteria and intended learning outcomes have been met • Provides a classificatory grade or mark • Informs students about what they have done successfully and where they have lost marks/credits

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Affective • Encourages a partnership based on a dialogue between teacher and student • Gives praise and encouragement to boost confidence • Personalises and individualises the assessment process • Provides the tools for students to be more self-regulatory and independent

Student views on assessment and feedback During Semester 2, academic year 2012/13, students’ views on their experiences of assessment and feedback were collated from a spread of groups across HE provision at the College; what follows are the identified strengths and weaknesses of assessment practices from the students’ perspectives and a summary of other responses to questions.

Grading and assessment criteria Strengths

Weaknesses

Grading and assessment criteria made available in module guides in the Student Handbook/MOODLE

Assessment criteria and grading not discussed before the submission of the assignment

Grading and assessment criteria are fully explained in class

Students not aware of the assessment criteria, standards required and grading

Criteria are discussed in class with tutor

No discussion of criteria or grading

Tutorials used to discuss assessment criteria and grading

‘We are left to work it out ourselves’

Marking grids and descriptors gone through within lessons, explaining the grading and outcomes

No reminders of the outcomes’ grading and assessment criteria

Discussion as to what is required to meet the outcomes at different levels/grades and what to include

Feedback - What do you think of as feedback?

“Constructive criticism that can help you better yourself” “Sitting and talking with the tutor on a one to one” “Where we went wrong, how we could improve by each tutor individually. It must be constructive” “Being explained to by the tutor where we went wrong and how we can improve” “Being told how to improve” “Advice and criticism about the work you have handed in” “ Where you get good points and constructive criticism explaining action points with signposting to support future areas of study and assignments” “Verbal feedback when handing in drafts on how to improve” “Written feedback with both positive and negative marks”

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What types of feedback do you receive?

Strengths

Weaknesses

“Verbal and written feedback from tutors and peers”

“Sometimes a little rushed”

“ Written drafts, verbal, points highlighted on focused areas where it needs to be more analytical and critical”

“Not as much as we’d like”

“Verbal, written, group discussion, one to one and email”

“ Very general brief feedback to the whole group”

“ Written and one-to-ones can be arranged for larger assignments”

“Two minute one-to-one conversations with tutor” “A grade with some brief written feedback”

When do you receive it?

Strengths

Weaknesses

“ During tutorials and classes, via email, verbal feedback throughout assignment support”

“Sometimes too late to use it in our next assignment”

“In an agreed time”

“Sometime after we hand in the assignment”

“In class in response to drafts “ When we have completed the work and it is being given back we all discuss to learn from it”

“At the end of some assignments”

“When needed”

What students want from feedback “Results” “Feedback from tutors who actually marked the work” “Constructive criticism” “Specific and detailed critique on how to improve and where we went wrong” “More time to discuss work” “More personal feedback” “More in depth” “Information that will help us in our future assignments” “ For it to be critical, understandable feedback which is able to be used and implemented in other assignments and positive to boost confidence” “Advice and support” “Pointers on how to get a better mark” “ Constructive comments which make you feel as if you are asking the right questions - being on the right track boosts confidence”

What gets on your nerves about the feedback you receive?

“Nothing” “Sometimes it can be very negative and is the same as others’ feedback” “My last feedback was very negative and made me feel I had chosen the wrong course” “ The time it takes to get feedback back from tutors - we are mid-way through or have nearly finished our next module when we get feedback”

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“ Being told that things are wrong in the final work after being told everything’s fine when you show them a draft. Why not tell me where I went wrong in the draft?”

“It is minimal and takes a long time to get it back after initial handing in” “Not much advice to go on” “Time it takes to get it back” “When feedback is irrelevant and not useful in any way”

Language of feedback Generally students felt that they understood the language used in the feedback with which they are provided, with one or two exceptions around “analytical” and “critical”, which a number of students did not understand. Students fed back that they preferred typed rather than hand written feedback as handwriting is not always easily decipherable.

Amount of feedback Interestingly there was a 50/50 split with some students saying it was just the right amount and some wanting more. No student wanted less feedback.

What to do with feedback Many students surveyed knew that they needed to use the feedback to improve but could not or did not identify specifically how they would tackle this.

Who provides feedback?

The majority of responses indicated that tutors are the main source of feedback but there were some highlighted good practices where peer and self-assessment were used as well as whole and small group discussions around feedback.

Summary These collated responses from students make interesting reading and reveal that students want what the research evidence tells us is good practice and do not want feedback which has little relevance or is delivered impersonally, long after the assessment event and is overly critical and personal. As you continue to read this guide you will see how student responses align to the research evidence and provide us with a starting point for review, refreshment and in some cases reification of good practice.

The research evidence has a number of key issues highlighted to inform our assessment and feedback practice. What follows is a summary of that evidence which it is hoped will provide useful and relevant ideas and suggestions to incorporate in your assessment and feedback work with students.

Conditions to assess our own assessment practice Gibbs and Simpson (2004-05) discuss how assessment arrangements can promote student learning and identify ten conditions which can be used to assess and evaluate our own professional assessment practice.

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Condition 1 Sufficient assessed tasks are provided for students to capture sufficient study time.

Condition 2 These tasks are engaged with by students, orienting them to allocate appropriate amounts of time and effort to the most important aspects of the course.

Condition 3 Tackling the assessed task engages students in productive learning activity of an appropriate kind.

Condition 4 Sufficient feedback is provided, both often enough and in enough detail.

Condition 5 The feedback focuses on students’ performance, on their learning and on actions under the students’ control, rather than on the students themselves and on their characteristics.

Condition 6 The feedback is timely in that it is received by the students while it still matters to them and in time for them to pay attention to further learning or receive further assistance.

Condition 7 Feedback is appropriate to the purpose of the assignment and to its criteria for success.

Condition 8 Feedback is appropriate, in relation to students’ understanding of what they are supposed to be doing.

Condition 9 Feedback is received and attended to.

Condition 10 Feedback is acted on by the student.

How to use assessment to prevent learning Sally Brown’s (2004-05) rather provocative research identifies those approaches to assessment which actually inhibit learning, as she emphasises the crucial role of assessment for teachers and students alike.

In “How to use assessment to prevent learning” Sally Brown provides some rather tongue-in-cheek tips, which are designed to get us to think seriously about the consequences of our assessment practices.

Sally’s provocative tips can be used to examine our own practice and start the discussion about whether our assessment and feedback practice actually works at its best.

• Keep students in the dark about the rules of the game.

• Do all the assessment at the end of the learning programme.

• Make sure you know the identity of the student who has done each piece of work.

• To be fair to all students, give each an identical test.

• For coursework assessments, stick firmly to your deadlines.

• Don’t be soft on any students who claim they don’t do well in exams.

• Don’t indicate how many marks go with each of the parts of the question.

• Don’t give students any written feedback.

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• Always plan at least some questions on material that you haven’t covered with the class.

• Only look at student scripts once.

• When designing assessments, trust your first instincts.

• Stick to tried and tested methods like unseen exams.

• When you set coursework essays, don’t set a word limit.

• Don’t make your questions too straightforward.

• When you know that some particular bit is really important, hit it in several different questions in parallel.

• Don’t get into discussions with a class about how they will be assessed.

• Don’t be tempted to include self-assessment elements.

• Don’t get students peer assessing each other’s work.

• If you design a question paper that works really well, use it year on year.

Why Focus on Feedback?

Evidence from research and personal reflections based on years of experience provides overwhelming evidence that feedback is a critically important feature of effective learning. Feedback supports deep rather than surface learning (Martin and Saljo 1976a) and helps students to become more self-regulatory and independent in their approach to study.

Feedback does the job for teachers and students and the time taken to get approaches to feedback right is time well spent.

In a comprehensive review of 87 meta analyses of studies which impact on student achievement Hattie (1987) reports that the single most powerful influence is feedback. Black and Williams (1998) reviewed formative assessment emphasizing the overwhelmingly consistently positive effects that feedback has on learning compared with other teaching activities.

This guide summarises some of the main points of academic research into assessment and feedback practice to provide a framework for academic staff which outlines good practice and supports effective teaching, learning and assessment practices.

“ Feedback - it’s all about the feedback for students… they need it to progress to improve their learning” (University Centre Tutor)

What is Feedback?

Good question. We need to be very clear as to what we consider to be feedback and to communicate this to our students so that they are able to recognise feedback, know what to do with it and how it can help them to become more autonomous in their approach to study now and in the future, thereby supporting the aims of lifelong learning.

Annotated work

Written

Electronic

Verbal

Audio

Peer

Self

Tutor

Group

Internal

External

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Why bother with feedback? “ I spend ages on the feedback but do they really read it?”

(University Centre Tutor) Well the answer, according to our HE students here at the University Campus, is yes they do. Higgins et al (2002) found that students are “conscientious consumers” of feedback and this may be even more acute given the changes in fee regime and the current moves towards mass customerisation of education.

Good practice principles for effective feedback Nicol and MacFarlane-Dick (2006) synthesised research findings from an extensive range of studies to produce seven principles of good feedback practice. Effective feedback has the potential to help students become more independent, autonomous and self-regulatory.

1. Helps clarify what good performance is (goals, criteria, and expected standards) 2. Facilitates the development of self-assessment (reflection) in learning 3. Delivers high quality information to students about their learning 4. Encourages teacher and peer dialogue around learning 5. Encourages positive motivational beliefs and self esteem 6. Provides opportunities to close the gap between current and desired performance 7. Provides information to teachers that can be used to help shape teaching So how do we make this happen in our assessment practice? Taking each of these seven principles in turn we can now explore how we could embed such principles at the chalk face.

1. Helps clarify what good performance is (goals, criteria, and expected standards) Hounsell (1997) has shown that tutors and students may have very different interpretations and conceptions about goals and criteria for essays and coursework. This mismatch can lead to negative outcomes for students and be a source of frustration in teachers.

If students are not clear about the goals and purposes and appropriate behaviours linked to standards and levels of achievement then when they receive the feedback it does not connect and does not have the opportunity to be constructed to have meaning for the student, nor will it become part of their ever increasing and developing schema for learning.

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The process of learning, just as much as the content, is supported by good quality dialogic, clearly understood, linked and articulated feedback.

Examples in Practice • Clear criteria sheets with performance level definitions and descriptors • Increased discussion and reflection about criteria and standards • Involving students in peer marking using the explicit criteria and descriptors • Where possible negotiating criteria in collaboration with the students All of the above examples can be used to encourage self-regulation

2. Facilitates the development of self-assessment (reflection) in learning Tutors should help students to develop their skills of reflection to facilitate the practice of self regulation. Their aim should also be to provide students with structured opportunities for self-monitoring. McDonald and Boud (2003) found evidence that self-assessment training had a positive effect on student performance in examinations.

Mc Donald and Boud (2003) examined self-assessment as it occurred in two distinct conditions.

Condition 1 Self-assessment prior to peer/tutor feedback

Condition 2 Self-assessment after integrating tutor feedback

Results Both conditions were found to have a beneficial effect but Condition 2, where self-assessment was integrated after tutor feedback, was found to be the most beneficial.

Developing self-assessment skills Peer assessment approaches, using explicit standards and criteria, can be very successful in that they give students the opportunity to evaluate others’ work, providing feedback and developing these skills themselves. Once learned, together with others in the context of peer assessment, these skills are thought to be readily transferable to self-regulation of their own work.

How to develop structured reflection and self-assessment practices • Give students choice (where possible) over the kind of feedback they would like to receive • Help students to identify strengths and weaknesses against explicit standards and criteria prior to hand in • Help students to reflect on achievement milestones, reflect on progress and plan for future development (Cowan 1999).

Effective PDP processes can be used to enhance this self-regulation and self-assessment.

3. Delivers high quality information to students about their learning As tutors we are much more effective than students or their peers in identifying errors and misconceptions in students’ work. Our tutor feedback has the potential to substantiate self-regulation.

Providing quality feedback is the key.

‘Quality Feedback’ is:• Timely. Feedback should be delivered as close as possible to the production of the assessed work.

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• The identification of strengths and weaknesses plus corrective advice and some direction towards higher achievement with a balance of praise and constructive criticism.

“ Good quality external feedback is information that helps the students troubleshoot their own performance and self-correct: that is, it helps students to take action to reduce the discrepancy between their intentions and the resulting effects.” Nicol and McFarlane-Dick (2006) Feedback needs to be reiterative, focusing on the articulated goals, outcomes and assessment criteria. There is however a danger in using too many and too tightly prescribed criteria in that they have the potential to create a tick box approach and students may become reductionist and too linear in their production of assessment tasks.

Lunsford (1997) made two proposals based on the findings of his research into written feedback practices.

1. Use 3 well thought out feedback comments, thought to be the optimum number of comments if feedback is to be used and acted upon.

2. The comments should identify how the reader has experienced the written piece of work rather than judgemental comments.

Lunsford (1997) goes on to comment that feedback should be delivered in a non-authoritarian tone and should, where possible, offer corrective advice on content and process as well as identify strengths and weaknesses.

Prowse et al. (2007) suggest a four stage feedback process 1. First submission of written work 2. Written feedback 3. Viva on student understanding of the feedback 4. Final submission of written work Summary • Make it timely - before it is too late for students to change their work (before submission date) • Provide corrective advice and don’t just identify strengths and weaknesses • Limit the amount of feedback to maximise use • Prioritise areas for improvement • Provide assessment online so that feedback can be accessed anytime, any place and as often as the students need it.

4. Encourages teacher and peer dialogue around learning Students often don’t understand the feedback given by tutors so are unable to act upon it and don’t. Students need to construct meaning for themselves from the feedback provided; so straightforward telling is not particularly effective if students are to use the feedback to good effect.

Discussions are essential to ensure dialogue and partnership in assessment and feedback practices in higher education (Laurillard,2002.)

One to one, face to face discussions may not always be possible given group sizes and time available so other strategies for discussion to take place may be required.

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Examples • Small group break-out discussions of feedback after coursework is returned • Use technology to collate student responses and use the results as the basis of discussions • Use peer discussions-peers can use language which is more readily accessible and peer discussion exposes students to alternative and opposing viewpoints, perspectives, strategies and tactics • Peer discussions can also help students to develop detachment and objectivity of judgement which in turn can transfer to self-regulation of learning and ultimately greater learning independence • Peer discussions can also be motivational in that they encourage persistence (Boyle and Nicol 2003) and it can be easier to accept feedback from a peer rather than a tutor where there is a power relationship in play Dialogic feedback strategies to encourage self-regulation • Provide feedback using ‘one minute’ papers in class (Angelo and Cross 1993). One minute papers are a method of helping students develop meta cognitive skills. One minute papers involve posing a question prior to the start of the session and then responding to this at the end of the session (e.g. “What was the most important argument in this lecture? What question remains uppermost in your mind at the end of this session?) One minute papers can be used to enable teachers and students to share their understanding of goals and processes of learning, which in turn increases self-regulation and independence • Review feedback in tutorials with tutor and/or peers • Ask students to find one or two examples of good helpful feedback and explain how they have helped • Students give each other descriptive peer feedback in relation to criteria/standards before submission • Use group projects and discuss criteria and standards prior to commencement.

5. Encourages positive motivational beliefs and self esteem Dweck (1999) found that student responses to external feedback are dependent on their beliefs. Feedback increases interest in comparison to grades and marks. Butler (1988) examined two conditions; one where just a grade was provided and one where a mix of grades and feedback were given. Butler argued that the comments were not focused on by students when given with the grade and therefore they were not used to improve future study and learning.

It is important that students understand that feedback is an evaluation and set of judgements of the work/performance and not the individual e.g.” your work…” rather than “you…”

Aim to use what is known as “low stakes” (formative) assessment tasks i.e. those tasks which do not count towards students’ final marks or classification, with feedback geared to progression and achievement rather than high stakes (summative) assessment when working with feedback with students.

Other useful strategies for increasing motivation and self-esteem • Provide marks on written work only after students have responded to feedback comments • Allocate time for students in the scheme of work to re-write selected pieces of work • Employ automated testing (on-line) with feedback • Encourage drafts and re-submissions, regulations permitting

6. Provides opportunities to close the gap between current and desired performance Yorke (2003) poses two key questions: first, is the feedback high quality and second does it lead to changes in student behaviour?

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“ The only way to tell if learning results from feedback is for students to make some kind of response to complete the feedback loop (Sadler, 1989). This is one of the most often forgotten aspects of formative assessment. Unless students are able to use the feedback to produce improved work through, for example, re-doing the same assignment, neither they nor those giving feedback will know that it has been effective.” (Boud, 2000 p.158) “ Feedback should help students to recognise the next steps in learning and how to take them.” Nicol and McFarlane-Dick (2006) In higher education the pace and sequencing of summative assessments mean that students have little opportunity to use feedback to close the performance gap. They may well have moved on to the next planned module assessment by the time they receive the feedback. Whilst re-submission is not always an option it is worth bearing in mind that our professional practice and students’ learning can be markedly improved through greater use of re-submission (Boud, 2000). Our emphasis should be directed towards feedback on work in progress and encouraging students to plan for improvements.

Specific Strategies • Provide feedback on work in progress and increase opportunities for re-submission • Introduce two stage assignments where feedback on stage 1 helps improve stage 2 (Gibbs 2004) • Model strategies to close a performance gap in class or tutorial (if possible) e.g. model an essay question structure • Provide ‘action points’ things to do alongside normal feedback provision • Involve students in groups to identify their own action points after they have read the feedback on the assignment

7. Provides information to teachers that can be used to help shape the teaching and learning experience Frequent, formative diagnostics can assist teachers in producing cumulative information about students’ learning, which can in turn be used to adapt and enhance teaching and learning.

Additional Strategies • Students request the type of feedback they’d like at submission • Students identify where they are having difficulties when they submit • Students work in groups to identify ‘a question worth asking’ based on prior study that they would like to explore for a short time at the beginning of the next session/workshop or tutorial

“ Knowing what you know and don’t know focuses learning” (Chickering & Gamson, 1987) Conclusion It is clear from the evidence presented here that assessment and feedback are an essential component in developing our students’ abilities to be independent, self-regulatory students and the time we spend on developing these skills is time well spent; not just for the student but also for the teacher who requires students to be able to work independently at increasingly higher levels of study as they progress through the programme and on to employment and/or further study.

Students are primarily focused on assessment i.e. what they have to do to succeed on the programme and as such see this as the starting point in their learning journey. We need to recognise that the time we spend on developing effective

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assessment and feedback practices will be invaluable in allaying fears, reducing anxieties, improving independence and autonomy and ensuring our graduates are able to continue to work and learn throughout their careers and indeed throughout their lives.

References 1. Angelo, T. & Cross, P. (1993) Classroom assessment techniques. San-Francisco: Jossey-Bass 2. Biggs, J. and Tang, C. (2007) Teaching for Quality Learning at University. (3rd edn.) Maidenhead: Mc Graw Hill.

3. Black,P. & William, D. (1998) Assessment and classroom learning, Assessment in Education, vol.5, no. 1, pp. 7-74 4. Boud, D.(2000) Sustainable assessment: rethinking assessment for the learning society, Studies in Continuing Education, 22(2) pp.151-167 5. Boyle, J. and Nicol,D.J. (2003) Using classroom communication systems to support interaction and discussion in large class settings, Association for Learning Technology Journal Vol .11(3) pp. 43-57 6. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 46, pp.4–11 7. Brown, S. (2004-05) Assessment for Learning, Learning and Teaching in Higher Education, Issue1, pp.81-89 8. Chickering, A.W. & Gamson, Z.F. (1987) Seven Principles to Good Practice in Undergraduate Education, Racine, Wi. :The Johnson Foundation Inc. 9. Cowan, J. (1999) Being an innovative university teacher. Buckingham: Open University Press 10. Dweck, C. (1999) Self theories: their role in motivation, personality and development. Philadelphia: Psychology Press 11. Fry, H., Ketteridge, S. and Marshall, S. (2009) A Handbook for Teaching and Learning in Higher Education, enhancing academic practice. (3rd edn.) London: Routledge 12. Gibbs, G. & Simpson, C. (2004-05) Conditions Under Which Assessment Supports Student’s Learning, Learning and Teaching in Higher Education, Issue1, pp.3-31 13. Gibbs, G. (2004) Personal Communication in Nicol, D.J. and McFarlane-Dick, D. (2006) Formative assessment and selfregulated learning: a model and seven principles of good feedback practice, Studies in Higher Education, 31(2) pp.

199-218 14. Hattie, J.A. (1987) Identifying the salient facets of a model of student learning: a synthesis of meta-analyses, International Journal of Educational Research, vol. 11, pp.187-212 15. Higgins, R., Hartley, P. and Skelton, A. (2002) The conscientious consumer: reconsidering the role of assessment feedback in student learning, Studies in Higher Education, 27(1) pp.53-64 16. Hounsell, D. (1997) Contrasting conceptions of essay writing, in Marton, F., Hounsell, D. and Entwistle, N (Eds) The experience of learning ( 2nd edn.) Edinburgh: Scottish Academic Press 17. Laurillard, D. (2002) Rethinking university teaching: a conversational framework for the effective use of learning technologies (2nd edn.) London: Routledge Farmer 18. Lunsford,R. (1997) When less is more: principles for responding in the disciplines in: Sorcinelli, M.,and Elbow, P. (Eds) Writing to Learn: strategies for assigning and responding to writing across the disciplines. San Francisco C.A: Jossey-Bass 19. Marton, F., & Saljo, R. (1976a). On qualitative differences in learning: 1. Outcome and process 20. McDonald,B. and Boud,D. (2003) The impact of self-assessment on achievement: the effects of self-assessment training on performance in external examinations, Assessment in Education 10(2) pp.209-220 21. Nicol, D.J. and McFarlane-Dick, D. (2006) Formative assessment and self-regulated learning: a model and seven principles of good feedback practice, Studies in Higher Education, 31(2) pp.199-218 22. Prowse, S., Duncan, N., Hughes, J and Burke, D (2007)”…do that and I’ll raise your grade”. Innovative module design and recursive feedback, Teaching in Higher Education, 12 (40: pp. 437-445) 23. QAA (2012) UK Quality Code for Higher Education. Gloucester: QAA. Available at http://www.qaa.ac.uk (Accessed:12 February 2013) 24. Ramsden,P. (1992) Learning to Teach in Higher Education. London: Routledge 25. Sadler, D.R. (1989) Formative assessment and the design of instructional systems, Instructional Science, 18 pp.119-144

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26. Stefani, L. (2004-05) Assessment of Student Learning: promoting a scholarly approach, Learning and Teaching in Higher Education, Issue1, pp.51-80 27. Yorke, M. (2003) Formative Assessment in Higher Education: moves towards theory and the enhancement of pedagogic practice, Higher Education, 45(4), pp. 477-501 Many thanks to all academic staff and higher education students who have given their time, knowledge and expertise to support the production of this guide. Without your help the construction of this guide would not have been possible. Thanks again to all who have helped us to illustrate the wealth of assessment and feedback practice across the College.

Contributions from the following Schools: • Staff and students from the School of Academic Studies • Staff and students from the School of Business and Professional Studies • Staff and students from the School of Engineering and Computing • Staff and students from the School of Maritime Operations • Staff and students from the School of Society, Health and Childhood