Emerging themes from the qualitative data from students:
Anticipated outcomes:
- Feedback and Assessment Literacy
Students felt that they developed feedback and assessment literacy skills. They were aware that each stage of the assessment was preparing them for the next and they understood that the feedback being given was feeding them forward and guiding them on how they could improve for the next forum and final essay. Students stated:
‘It was a great help as you broke down each area that I needed to improve on and guided me in how to do it’.
‘Everything we got feedback on went towards writing my final essay’.
- Concept and Competency Development
Students appeared to have improved in their competency development such as critical thinking and connecting concepts (linking theory to practice, linking new concepts to previous knowledge, linking learning in this module to other modules). One student said:
‘I see things differently when I read a newspaper or watch the news now and I know that’s critical thinking. I understand things better now when I read a text.’
'I don't just agree with the theorists any more. I think about what I think about what they are saying.'
Unanticipated outcomes:
- Metacognitive Development
What was most surprising, but makes perfect sense in hindsight was that students developed their ability to think about their thinking and learning. In short, they developed metacognitive skills. Many students stated that a major outcome of this way of working was that they began to think more clearly, deeply and more critically. The data demonstrates that students were able to pinpoint competencies they had learned and explain how they had learned them.
For Example:
‘The module made me consider how I form opinions, which may not have been fully informed. It made me think on a deeper level…’
‘I learned to question things that are taken as automatically true…’
‘I learned to be more of a listener and not jump to conclusions as I would have before…’
- Engagement
Students emphasised the emotional impact of working this way. Many learners felt that the feedback conversations gave them increased confidence and ‘encouraged’ them to voice their thoughts and opinions without being ‘shut down’. Students said that they felt more ‘involved’, ‘in control of their learning’ and like they ‘had a choice’ and could choose what part of the module most interested them.
- Feedback Strategies
Feedback strategies which, students said, had the most impact on them were:
- Flipped feedback session (silent debate);
- Learners writing their own questions for the online discussion forums;
- In-task, real-time feed forward lecturer posts during online discussion forums.
Emerging themes from qualitative data from lecturer:
Anticipated outcomes:
- Criteria rubrics
The use of a criteria rubric made my feedback practice clearer and more consistent; giving me more energy, time and space to work with students on higher order thinking skills.
Room for Improvement
Unanticipated outcomes:
- Passion for teaching feed forward
I felt ‘alive’ and like I really gave of myself during the feed forward elements. The learning felt real, relevant and like both parties really cared about it. I felt that during the one-to-one feedback conversations, I really connected with the student and we built rapport.
- Overcoming fear of e-moderator role
My biggest learning curve was during the flipped feedback exercise (silent debate). Due to the fact that it mimicked how an online discussion forum worked, I could address my fears of being an e-moderator. My e-moderator role became clearer when modelling it in a class-room and much of the fear dissipated.
Room for improvement:
Student’s main criticism of the process:
- More flipped feedback silent debates and earlier on in the semester
My criticisms of the process:
- ‘Quick and dirty’ feedback is better than ‘slow and perfect’ feedback (Hounsell 2015)
- Need for exemplars to accompany criteria rubrics
- Did we engage the disengaged student any? Perhaps we engaged him / her to the extent that he / she was able to engage.