Developing sustainable feedback practices

Abstract

The use of assessment data to support student learning is an important current focus of the undergraduate reform. Feedback is a crucial component of this goal, but within the constraints of modularized learning increasingly difficult to handle effectively. This presentation makes a case for ‘sustainable feedback’ as a contribution to the re-conceptualization of feedback processes. We make selective use of data from an ongoing TDG project, entitled Student Assessment and Feedback Enhancement (SAFE), in which we carried out in-depth semi-structured interviews with a purposive sample of award-winning teachers in the university. Examples of practices consistent with our framework for sustainable feedback are discussed. The presentation concludes by setting out some possibilities and challenges for staff and student uptake of sustainable feedback; and inviting colleagues to contribute their reactions.