STELLENBSOSCH UNIVERSITY FACULTY OF MILITARY SCIENCE/ MILITARY ACADEMY SOUTH AFRICA Bontle Monnanyane: Department of Military Management +27(0) : Mhakamuni Khoza: Department of Educational Technology +27(0) : NOT A STATISTIC, BUT BELONGING TO A COMMUNITY

BACKGROUND Prolonged absence from studies: Students with prolonged absences from study need to quickly adapt and develop academic “survival skills. Lack of knowledge and experience of studying in distance education mode. Students find it challenging to cope with their daily responsibilities in their units and the actual package of their studies.

BACKGROUND Students find it difficult to reconcile conflicting demands. Students are underprepared. Most students have no idea of studying at the university. Feeling of loneliness.

BACKGROUND Ineffective administrative procedures such as lack of timely feedback or admission of no exceptions. Lack of timely feedback causes students to have insecurities about their studies. Without feedback, students find it difficult to self-evaluate their progress and understanding study material.

BACKGROUND Students appear to have little to do with the feedback, because they commonly do not address aspects of previous feedback in subsequent assignments. Students focus more on their grades, but less on engagement with the feedback. Challenges lecturers to give detailed feedback. Provide feedback that not only inform students of where and how their learning and performance can be improved, but provide them with opportunities to identify the gap in their knowledge (Osado, Merlo & Campo, 2013).

RATIONALE Students can become masters of their own learning process call “self- regulation which (Zimmerman & Schunk, 2013). Self-regulation includes social forms of learning such as modelling, guidance and feedback from peers and teachers (Zimmerman & Schunk, 2013). To afford students with critical reflective opportunities, so that they are open to critique and new ideas.

RESEARCH QUESTION To what extent do students engage with feedback provided in their formative assessment activities?

OBJECTIVES OF THE PILOT STUDY To measure the level of improvement on subsequent formative assessment activities from the first activity. To determine the extent to which students engage with feedback. To expose students to openness to critique about their own work.

METHODOLOGY Integrated methodology Qualitative Interviews Quantitative Questionnaire surveys Observations Official records

SAMPLING The population comprises of two groups Military Management 144 first year students Military Management 214 second year students

METHODOLOGY Division of undergraduate students into groups and tasks given. Complete the task and submission. Feedback given on the task by the lecturer. Corrections and reflect by means of a blog on the LMS (Moodle). Peer feedback. Showcase/ share to the rest of the class. Grading and final feedback.

FINDINGS

FINDINGS:STUDENTS’ OPINION ON LECTURER’S FEEDBACK “ We had a chance to discuss the feedback with her.” “It assisted our team to make corrections on the assignment and ensured that we give a good product”. “The feedback was an eye opener. We got some ideas that we did not think of. We were able to improve our blog”.

FINDINGS

FINDINGS: STUDENTS’ OPINION ON PEERS’ FEEDBACK “ It gave us an opportunity to do the corrections before handing in the final task.” “They may have picked on information that I might have missed on the task.” “More input was given, which also helped us in understanding the content” “I learnt not to be defensive when other group members commented on our work” “I learnt to use blog for the first time. I learnt to assess other people's work and provide feedback” “Not all peers gave sufficient or accurate feedback. Certain group members did not participate”

Sense of belonging “This was an excellent experience, it is a way of sharing each others views, ideas and knowledge with regards to the topic” “it is helpful in a sense that we as students are able to exchange ideas, be on the same page as far as the subject is concerned” Ownership “My experience with reading my peers comments was such an eye opener, I even thought my answers were not good enough, I even thought of changing them. people sounded so clever its very intimidating. but eventually decided to stick to my answers” Critical reflective students “That was the tough part because everybody can see what you're writing, and when you see that everybody have a very good comment, you would want to write a better comment ( back to thinking )” FINDINGS

REFERENCES Osado, A. G., Merlo, L. S. B., & del Campo, M. H. D. (2013). Formative assessment in a chemistry course through feedback and feed-forward strategies. INTED2013 Proceedings, Plowright, D. (2012). Using mixed methods: Frames for and Integrated Methodology. London: SAGE Publications. Rust, C., Price, M. & O’Donovan, B. (2003). Improving students’ learning by developing their understanding of assessment criteria and processes. Assessment and Evaluation in Higher Education, 28(2), Sadler, D.R. (1989). Formative assessment and the design of instructional systems. Instructional Science, 18, Schraw, G., Crippen, K. J., & Hartley, K. (2006). Promoting self-regulation in science education: Metacognition as part of a broader perspective on learning.Research in Science Education, 36(1-2), DOI: /s Zimmerman, B. J., & Schunk, D. H. (Eds.). (2013). Self-regulated learning and academic achievement: Theoretical perspectives. Routledge.

QUESTIONS AND COMMENTS