1. Does it make a difference? Replacing text with audio feedback Dave King, Sociology and Social Policy Stuart McGugan, CLL Nick Bunyan, CLL

2. Current methods of coursework feedback standard feedback sheet  pre-printed headings for comments  carbon copies written comments on the assignment itself (not always seen by the student) face to face discussion (if requested by student – rare)

3. Some issues Limited space to write comments Therefore focus on areas of weakness Can't vary the order of comments Students can't always read the comments Do students understand the comments? What do students do with the comments? Limited staff time available for marking

4. Merry, S. and Orsmond, P., (2007) 'Students’ responses to academic feedback provided via mp3 audio files', Paper presented to the Science Learning and Teaching Conference 2007. all 15 of the students viewed audio feedback in a positive way for three main reasons, ' a) that it was easier to understand because handwriting is often illegible, b) that it had more depth because possible strategies for solving problems were included rather than just stating what the problems were and c) that it seemed ‘more genuine’ indicating that speech is received in a more personal way than writing'.

5. Ice, P., Curtis, R., Phillips, P. and Wells, J. (2007) 'Using Asynchronous Audio Feedback to Enhance Teaching Presence and Students’ Sense of Community', Journal of Asynchronous Learning Networks, 11: 2. claimed that giving audio feedback was able to, 'reduce the time required to provide feedback by approximately 75%' and also that, 'this reduction in time was coupled with a 255% increase in the quantity of feedback provided'.

6. Trying it out: what we did 4 volunteer colleagues teaching across 3 years 10 volunteer students from each year replaced written feedback with audio 2 methods of recording  via pc with Audacity software  via 2 different types of MP3 recorders audio files given to students via dropbox in VITAL 4 focus groups – 3 for students, 1 for staff

7. The modules ModuleStudentsVolunteer Sample Task Year 1 compulsory 20882,000 word essay Year 2 option 2972,500 word essay Year 3 option 37104,000 word essay

8. Quantity of audio feedback ModuleLength (minutes) Length (words) Year 1 compulsory 1.43-3.36221-425 Year 2 option8.03-15.371,011-2,002 Year 3 optionMarker 15.27-8.48592-923 Marker 212.09-21.261,086-1,957

9. Quantity of audio and written Word comparisons ModuleStandard feedback sheet Audio file Year 1 compulsory 36-74221-425 Year 2 option65-1581,011-2,002 Year 3 optionMarker 169-144592-923 Marker 283-2251,086-1,957

10. Quality of feedback  More depth (in comparison with standard feedback form)  Conveys how the reader experienced to work (Lunsford 1997 – playback )  Construction of guild knowledge (Sadler 2008) Feedback that conveys meanings and discourses that characterise the discipline

11. Student responses 'we got a lot more feedback, you can fit a lot into 2 minutes (student year 1) 'I rarely look at the feedback sheets when I am writing an essay because it’s away or in a folder somewhere. But when it’s on a computer it’s easily accessible and I probably will [listen to it again]' (student year 1) 'It was great to have a voice as it made it easier to comprehend the comments by setting them in a little more context. Verbalising gives much more depth, and I was impressed with 10 minutes of feedback' (student year 3)

12. Getting personal 'I would start them off by saying [student's name] whereas in written feedback I would never use student’s name' (tutor) 'I actually found that by using the name was quite good because it felt more personal and you are taking the time to read my essay. It just felt more personal' (student year 1) 'I found it really weird to hear my lecture/tutor’s voice coming out from my computer' (student year 1)

13. Staff responses 'The one thing I was apprehensive about was ensuring that I did not come across as awful.' 'I was concerned with the quality of the voice.' 'I felt this was a more personalised form of feedback. Because of this, I was less likely to use words like ‘poor' or ‘weak’. I was thinking this person will be listening to this…so I will say ‘this is quite good’ or ‘this needs some work’. Not just the tone of voice but the actual words I was using.' 'I wondered what it would be like to fail a student. It would present a number of difficulties.'

14. Staff responses 2 lack of editing facility  'It was incredibly difficult; I would regularly get phone calls and knocks on the door and be disrupted. It was hard to go back to find the exact point. I knew how to pause the recording; I didn’t know how to go back over the last points and resume from there on.' concerns about students comparing different lengths of feedback concerns that students might disseminate the files via email or webpages time.  'There’s so much effort and time. If we are going to put that much effort why not do an individual essay tutorial that takes 15 minutes? That would be much quicker.'

15. Actual time spent on task Ave time spent per script ModuleMarkerNumber of Students Standard form (minutes) Audio (minutes) Module 1 2082320 Module 2 292032 Module 3Marker 1373953 Marker 2375460