1. Kent Union’s Annual Student Review
Assessment and Feedback
Introduce the session as looking at the work of Kent Union’s Annual Student Review over the academic year, which has been focussed around Assessment and Feedback. Identify that some in the room may be aware of the work of the Big Kent Review which took place in 2014/2015 as part of the QAA Higher Education Review. This work builds on our previous written submission in gathering feedback from the student body in order to make recommendations to the University. The recommendations from the Big Kent Review created the Kent Union Education Strategy, of which Assessment and Feedback is a key theme. The purpose of this session is to look at the work carried out by Kent Union around the Annual Student Review and to hear about some of the key feedback from students and an idea of the recommendations we may be looking at

2. The Education Strategy- Assessment and Feedback
Use this slide to talk about the fifth theme of the Education Strategy; Assessment and Feedback. Key points to make here:
For Kent, this is the area in the NSS that is consistently below benchmark compared to our successes in other areas, and it particularly takes a hit in the UGS as well.
Academic relationships are difficult and there are many different ones at present: seminar leader, module convenor, academic adviser, senior tutor- who is the right person to go to? And do students see all of these different relationships as places where they can discuss their work, their development and receive feedback? Do students feel comfortable talking to their academics outside of class, is it made clear what office hours are for and the benefits that can be gained from them?
Go through the 4 key themes that we identified in our strategy around assessment and feedback that are guiding our work over the next 4 years:
Exam feedback- something, like lecture capture, that students have been wanting for years. It has now been passed for an idea of feedback rather than returned scripts, but has taken a long time to answer
Feedback turnaround time. This is something that is constantly commented on and has been a focal point for us in our annual student review. Students still tell us that we are breaking promises by not delivering feedback back on time, and it is not a new or unexpected complaint
Feedback on coursework more personalised- Feedback Quality has also been one of our key themes this year and is really important for developing the idea of “feed forward”- using the feedback received to be a part of the learning cycle and contribute towards the next piece of work. A lack of quality feedback doesn’t allow for this to happen
Academic Advisers. This is something that still needs some work in order to become fully functioning, and has the potential to have a strong place in Assessment and Feedback as it can be another source of feedback that students aren’t completely aware of- it could be a valuable place to discuss work and ideas

3. Where did the Annual Student Review come from?
Following successful application to TSEP (The Student Engagement Partnership) to take part in a new pilot programme around the Annual Provider Review and how to incorporate the student voice
Formation of a project team including Kent Union and the University
Selecting a method to use for the pilot- student written submission
Selecting a theme for the project- Assessment and Feedback
Notes for this slide:
16 institutions were successful in being part of the pilot programme, ranging from both universities and further education colleges
The project team included from Kent Union: Director of Membership Services, Vice President (Education), Academic Policy and Representation Manager. From the University, the Director of UELT, with support from the Director of Planning
The project team also worked closely with relevant University Committees, such as the Assessment and Feedback Steering Group and the Academic Audit Team looking into Assessment and Feedback, where they were obvious links. Updates of the project were taken to both of those committees
The project also reported to the Kent Union Education and Student Representation Board, set up to monitor the Education Strategy and involves both elected student representatives representing the faculties at undergraduate and postgraduate level
To provide a framework to our discussions, we have used the NUS Assessment and Feedback Benchmarking Tool to measure the feedback from students and think about how to move to “outstanding practice”

4. Notes for this slide
As Assessment and Feedback is a large topic, we focussed on four specific areas that link with both our Education Strategy and the feedback that we continuously hear from students
Assessment Criteria: Thinking about students’ understanding of the task at hand and how they can progress between each piece of work
Feedback Quality: Thinking about the detail of feedback and its quality- does it allow for further progression and identify areas for improvement?
Feedback Timeliness: Addressing the turnaround time for feedback which is a persistent issue- do students receive it within the 3 week turnaround period? Do students receive it in enough time in order to apply it to their next piece of work?
Workload Distribution: We hear from students that there isn’t enough space between deadlines and that the expectation at certain times in the year is too much. What really came out in initial focus groups was the question of January Exams (also an issue being looked at by the Assessment and Feedback Steering Group) and so this was incorporated into our work

5. Timeline of Activity
14th November: Initial meeting with TSEP and presented with the three options to pursue. The project team chose the Student Led Written Submission
27th January: Secondary meeting with TSEP to do some existing data mapping to see what we already had access to, as well as to decide on the theme that our work would be taking. The decision was made that this would be Assessment and Feedback in order to mirror the priority of the University and the Education Strategies
30th January-20th February: Focus Groups with Presidents of Academic Societies, Canterbury undergraduate student reps, Canterbury postgraduate student reps and Medway student reps, examining key elements of the NUS Assessment and Feedback Benchmarking tool and how students felt their school fitted in to these
1st March: Reviewing Digital Rep feedback pertaining solely to Assessment and Feedback to create a current benchmark of student views
Talk through the timeline of activity that has taken place, drawing particular attention to the engagement week from the 27th-31st March where the bulk of data was gathered, and was solutions focussed as opposed to gathering information on the issues that students faced. We are currently in the stages of writing up the final report due in the autumn, analysing the bulk of data that we have collected and forming a comprehensive set of recommendations, some short term and some long term.

6. Timeline of Activity
2nd and 3rd March: As part of the Academic Audit team, two day consultation with staff and students at both the Canterbury and Medway campuses around the key issues raised by students in the focus group and via Digital Rep around Assessment and Feedback
27th-31st March: Assessment and Feedback Engagement Week- three days in Canterbury and one day in Medway, discussing key topics raised in the two consultation with students, particularly around January exams. This included interactive voting, pop up online questions and the first Annual Student Review survey, as well as a separate report compiled by psychology students
April: Analysing data from the previous years UGS, NSS and PTES relating to Assessment and Feedback
12th May: Focus group with four students (1 PGR, 1 PGT, 1 Medway UG, 1 Canterbury UG) to examine the key issues arising from the engagement week
5th-9th June: Final week for submission on the second Annual Student Review survey, which contains suggestions based on student feedback so far.

7. Our Work Since- In Numbers
Focus Groups: 43 Students
Short answer website questions: 1987 Students
Interactive Voting: 712 Students
Qualitative Feedback through surveys: 622
TOTAL: 3519 Student Engaged
Acknowledge that we have also used feedback from the UGS/NSS/PTES to provide a backdrop to the feedback gathered this year- we used 1056 comments, which brings the total students represented to 4575

8. Assessment Criteria We set out to find out:
Do students know where to find assessment criteria?
Do students understand assessment criteria?
Do students use assessment criteria?
Do teachers actively promote the assessment criteria?
Does feedback received link back to the assessment criteria?
Notes for this slide:
First theme we will look at is Assessment Criteria
There are a variety of questions that arise with this, such as their usage, their accessibility and the value placed on them by academic staff- if students aren’t‘ shown where to find them or hear about them when it comes to assessments (both before when they are putting their work together and afterwards when they are receiving feedback) then they will not use them proactively.
The Outstanding Practice from NUS highlights that assessment criteria should be clear and accessible with a clear link to learning outcomes. They should also be designed in partnership with students
Outstanding Practice (from NUS Benchmarking Tool)
“Assessment criteria are clear, easily accessible and linked to learning outcomes. Students fully understand and are supported to use them. They are designed in partnership with students to ensure accessibility”

9. What did we find out?
“More attention should be made by lecturers to the criteria, they should constantly refer to this throughout modules. Otherwise they become forgotten and is the reason why people get low marks.” PTES, SSPSSR
“Assessment criteria is frequently referred to, there needs to be more emphasis on how to apply it to our work”. Undergraduate student, focus group
“As many students are aiming for higher grades, it would be a very good idea for the faculty to show students some good examples of first grade assignments from other students (with their approval and anonymity). This would greatly improve everyone's idea for what they need to improve on.” Feedback from Digital Rep, UG, Psychology
“for every module that I have ever taken it is not entirely clear what makes something a first class assignment. I would like further clarification on this as often times I have found myself getting a mark that's border line 2.1/1.1 and not been told what I needed to do to get a first class assignment despite asking for further feedback.” Survey feedback, Politics, Stage 3
Notes for this slide:
As mentioned in the good practice on the previous slide, students feel as though criteria should be an active part of the course, and it’s clear that for some students it is. However, there are clearly inconsistencies in practice around Assessment Criteria, with not all academics referring to them throughout and stressing their importance. Where this does happen, it doesn’t necessarily teach students how to apply it to their work. What many students ask for is an example of what a first class assessment looks like, as the vagueness of criteria can sometimes make it difficult to think about what different classifications of work may look like. While it is certainly difficult to provide example work, it’s something that would really benefit students to look at alongside the assessment criteria (and mirrors a common technique used at A-Level).

10. What did we find out?
“More peer to peer based work, such as marking my classmates’ assessments, would help to me to improve my own understanding of assignments and help me to do better”
Out of 535 students who responded to this:
43% agreed that this would be useful
57% disagreed that this would be useful
“It's a good teamwork idea and might actually impact your own understanding of a topic in a positive manner.” Politics & International Relations, Stage 3
“I think peer to peer based learning would only be beneficial for some as the majority of students on my course did not enjoy engaging with and coordinating group projects.” Social Policy, Stage 1
“In the case of the school of the university where I study the first priority before introducing any peer to beer based work would be to actually create a sense of community because this is severely lacking.” Wildlife Conservation, Stage 2
“It would take a lot of time for us to learn how to mark accurately, time we don't have” Environmental Science, Stage 3
Notes for this slide:
One of the solutions posed by conversations with students was around peer to peer based marking so as to improve students’ understanding of assignments and help them to do better in the long run
The majority of students didn’t think this would be a good idea, though some did suggest that it would make for effective team building and would allow you to develop your understanding by seeing the work of others
Many students were concerned that not everyone would participate (in a similar way to concerns about group working), or that the focus should be on community building first so as to facilitate this (which links to our work around academic communities)
There was also a concern about learning how to mark accurately. However, this is revealing about the assessment criteria, as if they were a constant part of the learning process and they were taught to students, it might be easier for students to be able to mark each others work
The focus on community is already happening, and maybe to combine with the desire to see model answers, a sensible activity would be to work in groups to mark model answers and understand how the work fits alongside assessment criteria. While this is potentially more difficult for the sciences, it could be a really useful activity

11. What did we find out? Summary
Students find Assessment Criteria useful, but are not always shown these consistently across their modules or taught how they relate to the assessment as they are often vague
Students would like to see model answers to understand the expectation of assessments- criteria currently don’t provide this enough for students
Students wouldn’t feel comfortable marking each others work due to issues around community or group work currently present. Following our current focus on communities, a group exercise could be to supply model answers and ask students in groups to mark the assessments with the criteria in hand
Students don’t always understand what first class work looks like or how to progress between the different levels on the assessment criteria. Vague criteria don’t allow for this
Notes for this slide:
These are the core elements that we found out and will be used in order to make recommendations. There are some clear strides already around communities which should help to develop the classroom and lead students to want to work with each other more, but students also need clarification on what excellence looks like and how they can achieve this.

12. Feedback Quality We set out to find out:
Do students receive feedback that shows them where they went wrong and how to improve?
Are students satisfied with the quality of the feedback that they receive?
Are students able to use the feedback that they receive to inform the next assignment?
Notes for the slide:
Alongside Feedback Timeliness, this is probably the area of the biggest dissatisfaction amongst students
The notion of Feed Forward and using feedback to inform the next assessment is am important idea and students aren’t always able to do this
Exam feedback is now here which is a great step on the way to “outstanding practice”, but there are more steps to be taken on the way in which feedback is delivered and the opportunities available
Outstanding Practice (from NUS Benchmarking Tool)
“Detailed, constructive feedback is provided on all forms of assessment, including exams. The opportunities to receive feedback are clearly explained to students at the start of the course, and students can choose the format in which they would like to receive feedback. There are opportunities to discuss the feedback individually with the marker”

13. What did we find out?
“When receiving feedback they don't just tell you what you did wrong, they also explain how you went wrong and how to correct it and do it correctly next time.” Computer Science, Stage 1 (Digital Rep)
“Some of the feedback can be quite limited, for example on one paper I received a tick on the entire thing and that was all, despite losing half of the marks” Psychology, Stage 3 (Digital Rep)
“Ensure that seminar leaders write strengths and weaknesses about our assessments or give sample assessments so we understand what we are talking about”. Law, UGS
When asked to rate the usefulness of feedback out of 10, most students suggested 7
Students would find it useful to signpost on their work the areas in which they would most like to have feedback on (i.e. their referencing or style)
There were mixed feelings about whether an audio accompaniment from academics with feedback would help to develop understanding
Notes for this slide:
Clearly some good practice identified by the Stage 1 student and this is how it should be for every student- perhaps this is easier in Science than in Hums/Social Sciences? What good practice can be shared between faculties?
Limited feedback has been fed back by many students who do not feel as though the feedback is detailed enough to paint an accurate picture of performance. Students are frustrated by limited feedback that does not provide pointers for improvement or link to the assessment criteria that students have used to help form their assessments.
What students want to know from their feedback is their strengths and weaknesses. This contributes to the idea of feed forward. Even when a module comes to an end, students want to know what their strong points were and their weaknesses so that they can learn how to develop for their future work. Students want feedback that is useful and contributes to their degree is a whole so that they can continue to improve
Students recognise the value in their feedback, and on the whole it is rated as quite useful- but it is missing those key elements about how to improve for next time
As identified in the School of Psychology and recommended by the audit team, students co created cover sheets with their academic staff which now give the option for students to signpost on their cover sheet when they hand in an assignment the area in which they would most like feedback. Students were very keen on this idea
Other best practice noted was around whether audio recordings would be helpful to talk through feedback that might on the surface appear vague or be harder to understand. There were mixed feelings about this from students, perhaps as it was something else to download. However, it could be a useful way of explaining difficult concepts and fulfilling student desires to meet with academics 1-1

14. What did we find out?
“What could make feedback more useful so that it informs the way in which you prepare for the next assessment?”
“Personal interviews with lecturers” Classics & Archaeology, Stage 2
“More detailed feedback would be extremely helpful. So often when I read back a marked assignment to I find sentences simply underlines or passages with just a question mark after them.” Biomedical Science, Stage 2
“Advice on how to approach the next assessment, as feedback is often general and specific to the assignment in question, you do not always receive any advice on how to actually improve your work.” English and American Literature, Stage 1
Notes for this slide:
We asked students what could make feedback more useful ready for their next assessment
What came through a great deal was the need for individual appointments with academics. This is concerning as obviously all academics have office hours, and it suggests that either students don’t know about them, don’t know what they’re for, don’t understand that they can go to these to discuss feedback or don’t feel comfortable to attend these sessions. A student in a focus group noted that they regularly attended office hours, but noticed that this was not the case amongst their peers. They pointed out that when a seminar leader offered slots to discuss feedback during a class, students often signed up to them. Where students were left to go to office hours to discuss feedback, it was much rarer for students to attend these. This suggests discomfort at going to office hours unless it has been an invitation to discuss further, which also says something about the community within the classroom. This also highlights the academic adviser scheme, which also exists to offer a chance to discuss feedback and progress
Students also highlight the need for more detailed feedback as well as advice on how to approach the next assignment, even if it is not necessarily for that module, but a general sense of how to improve

15. What did we find out: Summary
Students are looking for ways to improve when they look at their feedback, particularly around the strengths and weaknesses of their work
Feedback can currently be limited and so does not allow for “feed forward” and students being able to develop and progress in between each assignment, even between modules
Students would find it useful to be able to signpost the areas of feedback that they want most to develop or check in with
Students are keen to meet with academics and it is not perhaps clear about the purpose of office hours or the role of academic advisers when it comes to feedback, perhaps stemming from community within the classroom
Notes for this slide:
As with all reviews of performance, strengths and developments are really important and the same is true academically. As students often do not submit drafts, marked assignments can be the only way that they can receive feedback to learn how to improve for the next assignment, and first year where the marks do not count is the only real place to test this out as students are conscious of their final grade from the point at which they begin second year. As Higher Education becomes more transactional with the pressure of fees and debt, students are more concerned than ever about that final grade and need by the end of their first year an accurate picture of their performance and what they need to do to improve- Feed Forward

16. Feedback Timeliness We set out to find out:
Do students receive feedback within the 3 week turnaround?
Do students receive their feedback in time to apply it to their next assignment?
Do students receive other forms of feedback throughout their course which gives them an idea of progress in between formal deadlines (i.e. office hours, verbal feedback, feedback)
Notes for this slide:
A clear area of dissatisfaction from students which combines both the lateness of feedback and the lack of communication as to why feedback may be late
The idea of feed forward is dependant on students receiving their feedback in good time to prepare for the next assessment (and so links with workload distribution and the setting of deadlines- perhaps this is something that needs to change)
Continuous feedback is important, and teaching students that culture of what constitutes feedback is vital so that they understand that they are in fact receiving it the whole time
Outstanding Practice (from NUS Benchmarking Tool)
“Feedback timeliness above an institutional minimum standard is agreed in partnership between staff and students in departments. Students receive continuous verbal, written or feedback throughout their course and understand that feedback encompasses more than just comments on assignments”

17. What did we find out?
“Did not receive one essay back until I had submitted a second one. Would have appreciated it before so I could have implemented any style changes rather than potentially ruining two essays. Aside from a mark I have received no form of feedback about any of my essays, nor explicitly offered any.” SECL, PGT (PTES)
“Assignment feedback could be much quicker - often I receive feedback too late to apply to my next assignment, which means that it's value is lost, and my motivation to complete assignments suffers.” English, UG (UGS)
“Assessment feedback is quick and incredibly helpful.” Financial Mathematics, Stage 1 (Digital Rep)
Notes for this slide:
Feed Forward is difficult if students don’t receive feedback in time to prepare for their next assignment and this is what students do. There are obviously cases where this is not the case, and it is possible to have feedback that is quick and helpful. However, even if it is useful but comes back too late, the value is then lost if there is no time to apply it. If it comes back after you’ve already handed in the second assignment, you then don’t have a steer to your work or a guidance about what you needed to do to improve, and you go into the work blind and based on self-assessment of your strengths and weaknesses.

18. What did we find out?
“I use the feedback that I receive on assessments to help prepare for the next one, even if it's for a different module.”
The majority of students agreed that this was the case
“Quick, generic feedback to give an indication of performance would be useful prior to a meeting with my lecturer/academic advisor to explore my work in more depth, as opposed to waiting a long time for feedback.”
The majority of students agreed that this would be useful
Only a small proportion of students felt that they consistently received other forms of feedback such as verbal, or office hours
Many students fed back that 1:1 sessions would be helpful in discussing their feedback
“Usually, I believe, students do not mind when a mark is late, if they are informed in a timely manner. Obviously, it would be better if the university could stick to their own rule of 3 weeks, but being told on the day that feedback will not be released until a later date is ridiculous.”
Notes for this slide:
The majority of students use their feedback to inform future work
When the idea of quick generic feedback was floated with students this was well received. This could be something offered to a class as a whole- “On a whole, the strengths of the class were… the weaknesses were…” to give a general idea of performance, that could be followed up by individual feedback via a 1:1 appointment
It’s clear that not all students are receiving continual feedback outside of their submitted work- again possibly because students aren’t utilising officer hours or feel comfortable doing so. Feedback as a concept is clearly something that needs to be addressed. Links back to earlier point about not feeling comfortable and maybe prescriptive appointments are needed
Students are understanding- they realise that not everything can go to plan- but if they only find out on the day they are expecting their feedback that it is going to be late, they get annoyed

19. What did we find out? Summary
Students want to use their feedback in order to develop their work ahead of the next deadline. This currently isn’t consistently possible due to late turnaround time of feedback
Students would appreciate an idea of their performance ahead of detailed feedback so that even before they received full feedback they would have an idea of how they have done together with their cohort
More work is needed around continuous feedback such as s, verbal feedback and office hours and the cultural move to making feedback a continued process, not just something that comes with assignments

20. Workload Distribution
We set out to find out:
Do students feel as though there is enough space between their deadlines?
Do students have enough information in advance about their deadlines?
Are students involved in the decision making process about their deadlines?
How early are students informed about deadlines?
Would January Exams be welcomed by students?
Outstanding Practice (from NUS Benchmarking Tool)
“Assessments are planned so that all programmes have their workload spread fairly across the year. A calendar of deadlines is available before module selection. There are ongoing discussions with students throughout the year, with the option to change deadlines if necessary”

21. What did we find out?
“The issue is when we have 3 deadlines 4 weeks apart, and the next assignment is built upon the previous one. This means that we only have a week to process our feedback and improve upon it. This hardly seems fair seeing as most will start their work way before a week until the hand in date” PGT, Ancient History (Digital Rep)
“Some assessments are clustered. They are not well spread out. The students feel they can't put maximum effort in assessments if there are too many to do at once. It's stressful and demanding” Actuarial Sciences, Stage 1 (Digital Rep)
“Most of the lecturers are enthusiastic and articulate, and coursework and assessment deadlines are published well in advance, so this has helped me to plan my workload.” Psychology, UGS
Notes for this slide:
Workload Distribution doesn’t always allow for students to learn from their feedback and apply it
Students don’t feel as though they can put in maximum effort to each piece of work if they’re all due at the same time, especially if they’re not aware in advance of the deadlines
When deadlines are published well advance, students are able to plan their workload

22. What did we find out? January Exams
For
Against
Helps stop cramming for summer exams
Improve student wellbeing
Hard to revisit subjects that you haven’t focussed on in some time
Spreads out the workload
Able to go into summer exams with more of an idea of current performance and what to expect
Allows a transition to university level writing and exams
Improve results as knowledge would be fresh
More of a test of recall at the moment as opposed to showing learning
Help check weak points before moving on to new subjects
Would allow greater feedback from lecturers
Students needs a break after autumn and it’s the only real break in the academic year, particularly for those who don’t have reading weeks
Everything in the summer means more time to study
Christmas is the only time that international students are able to return home
Christmas is a special family time
Too much stress to give students after their autumn deadlines
For final year students, Christmas break is a crucial time for dissertation research or postgraduate applications
Would clash with deadlines already present over the winter break
By summer skills in essay writing are more developed and more cumulative knowledge has been built
Notes for this slide:
Students were really split on the idea, but it is important to note that we didn’t explore with them the proposed restructure of the academic year as this is still in the proposal stage. It will be important to consult with students on this, as many concerns arose because of the current structure and how it would be affected with the addition of January Exams.
55% for 45% against (1674 students responded)

23. What did we find out?
The majority of students were made aware of deadlines when they started a module
The majority of students were not aware of deadline dates when they chose a module
When asked how they would improve organisation of deadlines, students said:
“More cross-talk between module convenors. On the whole, they do this very well in biosciences.”
“The compulsory modules could communicate and not put all the deadlines in the same week.”
“Perhaps give students a rough overview of when deadlines for a specific module when choosing modules at module registration so students are aware of the workload well ahead of time”

24. What did we find out? Summary
The distribution of deadlines does not always allow for students to learn from their feedback and apply it to the next assignment
Clustering of deadlines does not allow students to adequately prepare or put maximum effort into each individual piece of work
When students know their deadlines in advance, they are able to plan accordingly
The issue of January Exams would be welcomed by more students than not, but a consultation with the proposed restructure of the academic year may make it more welcome to others and waylay their concerns
Students don’t feel as though academics communicate with each other about deadlines, and want to see this happening with compulsory modules
Students aren’t made aware of deadlines when they choose modules- this could help them choose modules where they know they could manage their workload

25. Any questions?