Assessing learning and exchanging feedback
Context: Written assessment and feedback for practical projects
Background:
I have been assessing student’s projects across the 8 years I have worked at LCF, I have noticed the style has changed a lot since my first few years. Initially assessments included an in-person presentation and then 1-1 verbal feedback. With the focus now being on 500 words of written feedback per student and no in person hand over I feel the students are not aligning their assessment with future progression opportunities.
Evaluation:
The use of long written feedback as the main communication for assessment does not feel relevant to a course which is highly practical with students submitting 3D fashion and textile-based outcomes. Projects are made up of many elements including sketchbook, technical file, final samples, presentation and a written reflection or design statement. These outcomes usually sit across 2 or more of the learning outcomes which makes grading work difficult within the A-F boundaries, usually more written feedback is needed to clearly outline the success of each outcome as to not read contradictory to the grading. Students tend to focus more on the letter grade than the written feedback that supports it, some students don’t read the feedback at all which can then lead to a lack of understanding and development of their practice and can result in students who feel they cannot achieve higher grades as often they tend to repeat the same mistakes and continue to get the same grade again and again.
I want to think about more constructive ways of how assessment could be undertaken that can benefit both the tutor and student by reducing amount of writing and ensuring the student takes away clear information on how they can progress and grow.
Moving Forwards:
In person feedback – this format allows for more elaboration on feedback points and allows for the student to ask questions. I can see, by being face to face, if students understand how they could have furthered their work and ensure that they know how this feeds into their next projects, that this point of assessment is not the end to their progression. However, challenges that occur with this is timing, room allocation and staffing. I am fractional and therefore my workdays don’t always align with the rest of the team, additionally since the move to Stratford there has been a lack of empty rooms for assessing and we have had to carry out marking students work in communal staff offices which are not functional or appropriate for students to receive 1-1 feedback in.
Key highlights – I have started to include 6 bullet points at the end of my assessment feedback, 3 for ‘strengths’ and 3 for ‘Areas to develop’ this is in hope that if the students struggle to read the long form feedback, they can at least clearly take away the main points.
A new perspective – The students will have had a minimum of eight 1-1 tutorials before their hand in with the same tutor who is writing their final assessment feedback, I find this conflicting on many levels. ‘..for art and design lecturers, the work and the student are entangled’ (Orr,2010). If there was a 3rd party assigned the assessment of projects the feedback is likely to share a new perspective that the students could find enlightening. I find that by the time I come to formally assess the work the students have already heard the feedback in one form or another throughout the 8-week unit and therefore don’t engage with it as new information.
The reward for the taxing workload assessment is on tutors would be for students to see clear progression routes for their practice, ‘information does not become “feedback” unless it is provided within a system that can use that information to affect future performance’ (Williams, 2011).
I feel the current system does not benefit either student or tutor, my aim would be to streamline the amount of information and create more in person assessment points.
References:
Orr, S (2010) Making Marks: assessment practices in art and design. Intellect.
Wiliam, D. (2011). What is assessment for learning? Studies in Educational Evaluation,37(1), 3–14.