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There have been a number of projects in Higher Education which were designed to enhance the provision of feedback on assessment. Two studies which cover similar ground to this thesis are the

i) Enhancing Practice project instigated by the Quality Assurance Agency (QAA) Scotland

ii) Engaging Students with Assessment Feedback (ESWAF) an Fund for the Development of Teaching and Learning 5 (FDTL 5) project running from 2003 to 2008

The Enhancement Theme project had a number of separate topics which were of particular concern in Higher Education designed to enhance academic practice. One of the first themes that the project explored was “Assessment” and one of the major topics in the “Assessment” theme was “Feedback”. The Feedback section of the project identified themes in terms of

• Rethinking formative assessment in Higher Education – identifying 7 pillars of good feedback practice

• Understanding the economies of feedback • Formative feedback and student success • Improving feedback to students

The 7 pillars of good practice in the Enhancement Theme project were aspirations about what feedback should be about. Two of the 7 pillars, “encouraging dialogue around feedback” and “providing opportunities to close the gap between current and desired performance” are topics that have been discussed in this thesis although they have not been central issues.

The economics of feedback provision has been briefly alluded to in this these but is outwith the context of the current study.

The arguments put forward in the section on formative feedback and student success have resonance with this thesis in particular the finding that formative feedback is rarely used to its fullest advantage. It is also recognised that it is a demanding challenge to give formative assessment greater prominence. The difficulties in promoting change in formative assessment practices were apparent in the current study.

The Enhancement Theme project looked at the link between formative and summative assessment and this has also been a central aspect of this thesis. The Enhancement Theme project identified student use of feedback as an area which required further work. The concerns about engagement with feedback have been discussed in this thesis.

7.5.2 ESWAF

The ESWAF project was an FDTL 5 project which had the aim of enhancing student learning by improving student engagement with assessment feedback. The main findings of the ESWAF project focussed on the lack of student engagement with feedback. The lack of student engagement with feedback is an issue that has been raised in this thesis. The ESWAF project suggested that students had difficulty in engaging with feedback because of

• The quality of feedback

• Confusion about what constitutes “useful” feedback • Difficulty in applying and understanding feedback

The research undertaken for this thesis also found that students were concerned about the quality of the feedback they received and had difficulties in understanding and applying the feedback they received.

The ESWAF project goes on to recommend that there is an appropriate environment created which encourages student engagement with feedback. The need to create an appropriate environment for engagement with feedback is a subject that has been identified in this thesis if students are to be given the opportunity to use feedback to enhance their academic achievement.

7.6 Recommendations

The recommendations from the thesis are split into three subsections: students, academic staff and Higher Education Institution.

7.6.1 Recommendations for Change in Student Practice

The majority of the recommendations from this thesis are aimed at changes in academic practice and for institutions to provide the support for the changes to take place. However, there are aspects of the recommendations which require student participation, including

• Willingness to engage with formative feedback and act on the suggestions provided in the feedback (but see recommendations for academics); and

• Willingness to enter into dialogue with tutors about feedback

7.6.2 Recommendations for Change in Academic Practice

The key recommendations on change in academic practice are;

• Academics should review their current practice in the feedback they provide for students and ensure that when feedback is provided it is understandable and useable by students;

• An appropriate environment should be created which encourages student engagement with feedback;

• Students should be encouraged to use feedback to “close the gap” on their understanding. Academic staff need to provide structured opportunities for that to take place;

• Academics should provide help to students to help the students understand how to make use of the feedback;

• Students should be provided with the opportunity to discuss their feedback with academic staff on a one to one basis.

7.6.3 Recommendations for Change at Institutional Level

In order to affect a change in practice in the provision of feedback support from the Higher Education Institution is required. There is a need for HEIs to

• Provide staff development sessions to tell staff about student perceptions of what is poor/useless feedback;

• Provide staff development sessions to flag up the importance of staff-student dialogue about assessment and feedback;

• Implement changes in workload management and institutional assessment strategies to allow “space” for feedback to be provided;

• Consider the modular system of education and the adverse impact it has on the feedforward aspect of feedback.