Students writing their own feedback; self-assessment mediated by video mark schemes David Read and Paul Duckmanton.

Students writing their own feedback;self-assessment mediated by

video mark schemes

David Read and Paul Duckmanton

• Background: work on recorded lectures

• Pilot ‘Easter Exercise’ featuring video mark schemes

• Inorganic vacation work: design and implementation

• The student response

• Examples of students writing their own feedback

Outline of the presentation

Recorded lectures

Andrews, C. J., Brown, R. C., Harrison, C. K., Read, D. and Roach, P. L., New Directions in the Teaching of Physical Sciences, 2010, 6,

p.56.

• Organic chemistry = problems.

• Y2 exam performance in January was poor…

• Remedial work was needed in order to:

help students to improve their basic skills in organic chemistry

assist them in working effectively on their own

boost their confidence and keep them engaged

Turning worked examples into self-assessment exercises

Turning worked examples into self-assessment exercises

• Feedback from the students was excellent:‘The resources are fantastic…’

‘…I feel that I got some decent learning out of this exercise.’

‘It was a brilliant exercise in covering things I had already understood, whilst simultaneously highlighting things I'd clearly managed to remember or even learn wrong in the first place.’

• Some students talked about reflection.

• Attainment improved.

• However, this was all done in a slightly ad hoc fashion…

Turning worked examples into self-assessment exercises: evaluation

>8000 words from ~60 students

• Summer vacation work was set at the end of July, comprising exercises in I, O and P.

• Students were informed that they would hand the work in, we would return it and they would complete SA.

• Video mark schemes were created over the summer, to be made available at the start of term.

Summer vacation work

Inorganic exercise

The markschemes

The markschemes

The markschemes

• Students handed the work in at the start of the ‘Welcome back’ talk for checking.

• Students were briefed on the process.

• They completed SA in their own time and entered their marks and feedback in a Blackboard survey.

• A small number needed to be chased.

Processes

The worst (best?) excuse ever?

“Hello i am trying to complete these but i have been really busy the last two weeks as im vice president for Bencraft JCR so I have had to go out almost every night for 2 weeks with freshers to make sure they are all ok which has meant i havent had time to mark the work im trying to do it now but i dont think it will be done by the deadline im doing the inorganic 1st as it is needed in tomorrow Sorry for the lateness ive just had no spare time”

Online survey - the data

“How do you feel about your performance on this exercise? What did you do well on? What did you find difficult?”

“I feel that I have done well on this exercise. I spent a lot of time on the exercise and revising the material from last year, which helped me to make the majority of points required for marks.”

“Overall, I got 35/50 (70% - which would be the equivalent of a First), so I am pleased with my performance; however, there is room to iron out silly errors. I hope this will be possible once I get into the business end of Year Two.”

Online survey - the data

“What are you going to do to maximise your future performance in inorganic chemistry?”

“I will work on explaining and defining processes more clearly and showing all of the thought process and working out when reaching an answer.”

“I think I will have to do a lot more reading other than just what is taught in lectures. This will help me to grasp a greater understanding of the concepts and will enable me to go into much more detail in my answers.”

Online survey - the data

“Has this been a useful exercise for you? Please explain your view.”

“It has been useful as I now know what I need to work on to achieve my full potential.”

“Most definitely, more of these would be good!” “I found this exercise very useful particularly the video answers which far outdid what a paper mark scheme could achieve in solidifying an understanding of certain topics that i lacked before completing the exercise.”

What’s your overall view of the summer vacation work

itself?

A. B. C. D. E.

56%

40%

0%0%4%

A. Very helpfulB. Quite helpfulC. No view either

wayD. Not very helpfulE. A waste of time

What’s your overall view of the self-assessment process?

A. B. C. D. E.

44%

37%

2%

7%10%

A. Very helpfulB. Quite helpfulC. No view either

wayD. Not very helpfulE. A waste of time

We should do this sort of work in every summer vacation

break.

A. B. C. D. E.

46%43%

1%3%

8%

A. Strongly agreeB. AgreeC. Neither agree nor

disagreeD. DisagreeE. Strongly disagree

We should do this sort of work in every vacation break.

A. B. C. D. E.

7%

16%

43%

26%

8%

A. Strongly agreeB. AgreeC. Neither agree nor

disagreeD. DisagreeE. Strongly disagree

Self-assessment using video markschemes helps me to

learn.

A. B. C. D. E.

30%

51%

4%6%

9%

A. Strongly agreeB. AgreeC. Neither agree nor

disagreeD. DisagreeE. Strongly disagree

“I felt I performed decently on the exercise, the questions were fairly challenging”

“Inorganic chemistry requires a lot of retention work to achieve maximum work, hence revision from day 1 will be important”

Final thoughts

• Key benefits are enforced revision and boosted confidence for the start of Y2

• How do we brief students to encourage deeper reflection?

• How can we effectively demonstrate the pedagogic benefits?

• How far can we go in terms of the roll out across the course?