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Detailed in-text comments

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Dr Maria Grazia Turri profile picture

Dr Maria Grazia Turri

Senior Lecturer in Creative Arts and Mental Health, Centre for Psychiatry

Using feedback as an element of the learning and teaching process through which students' work (critical writing - essay) is acknowledged and critiqued

Extensive feedback on essays is provided in the form of comments in text. The aim is to use the feedback on summative assessment as the last engaging exercise between students and lecturers.

Comments are tailored to respond to the students’ work in the form of constructive feedback. Each student’s work is complemented, criticised and points on where and how to improve are included as part of the feedback process.

Feedback provided is on the essay:

  • Structure

  • Arguments made and how enriching the content is to the field of study

  • Grammar, punctuation, spelling

  • Use of language

     

To ensure that feedback is accurate and engaging, essays are read twice by the same marker. First to understand the topic and points of discussion then finally the essay is read again with the intention to grade it.

A lot of time and energy is invested in providing feedback as a sign of acknowledgment for the time and effort students have put into their work. It is equally important to remember that assessments are not solely for grade/mark allocation but serve as an opportunity for academics to interact with students through feedback.

  • It is empowering and motivating for students to read feedback that extensively responds to their individual work
  • Providing detailed feedback clears any doubts and queries that students might have with regard to the final mark they have obtained
  • When students know that their work will be marked and engaged with at this level, they are encouraged to put in a lot of work into their submissions and as a result, the quality of essays submitted improves
  • We provide feedback amongst other reasons to allow students to learn from their mistakes. For feedback to be effective, students must interact with it, something they do well when the feedback is personalized and engaging than if it were generic.
  • The marking process is time consuming as essays are read in the first instance to understand the topic before being reread for grading purposes

The feedback design is on summative assessment at the end of the semester therefore it is written feedback disseminated online via QMPlus

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