Using statement banks to return online feedback: limitations of the transmission approach in a credit-bearing assessment

Abstract

Using statement banks to return online feedback: Limitations of the transmission approach in a credit-bearing assessmentElectronic marking tools that incorporate statement banks have become increasingly prevalent within higher education and their advantages are considered. In an experiment, printed and emailed feedback was returned to 243 first year students on a credit-bearing laboratory report assessment. A transmission approach was used, students being provided with comments on their work but no guidance as to how they should use these remarks. A multiple choice question (MCQ) test, undertaken before and after the return of feedback, was used to measure learning. Although returned comments included model answers to the MCQs, test scores showed no overall enhancement, even when students' marks for their laboratory reports were initially hidden. A negative and significant (p = .010) linear trend between relative test scores and test date suggests that even modest improvements in subject knowledge were lost over time. Despite this, students could accurately guess their mark based on emailed feedback alone, estimated and awarded marks being linearly correlated (p < .001). It is concluded that statement banks organised according to published assessment criteria can ultimately help students to appreciate how their work was graded. However, students should be encouraged to produce a structured response to received feedback if self-assessment is to occur.

Technology and Feedback Design

“…To increase efficiency when creating digital text comments, some educators utilise electronic rubrics (Gabaudan, 2013) or statement banks (Borup et al, 2015;Denton & Rowe, 2015), as these modalities avoid the need to type similar comments repeatedly. Statement banks can be created by the educator themselves using word-processing software (Leibold & Schwarz, 2015), or with the help of digital mark-up tools such as GradeMark® (Watkins et al, 2014).…”

“…Statement banks can be created by the educator themselves using word-processing software (Leibold & Schwarz, 2015), or with the help of digital mark-up tools such as GradeMark® (Watkins et al, 2014). However, students tend to prefer feedback that offers a high level of detail and personalisation, and this is not always possible when providing "one-size fits all" comments (Denton & Rowe, 2015). In addition, statement banks and electronic rubrics may be most appropriate for tasks in which there is a clear or model answer, rather than more complex and open ended forms of assessment, especially those where the criteria involve considerable tacit knowledge.…”

Implementing first-year assessment principles: An analysis of selected scholarly literature

“…It is therefore essential that students be supported and feedback is timely, constructive and encourages them to persist and become more self-aware (Horstmanshof & Brownie, 2013;Lawrie et al, 2013). Denton and Rowe (2015) suggested that feedback needs to include interaction and found that using a transmission form of feedback, where the lecturer provides feedback without any interaction, did not improve students' performance.…”

Response of students to statement bank feedback: the impact of assessment literacy on performances in summative tasks

“…The need for statement-bank comments to be grounded in educational principles has been acknowledged (Nicol & Milligan, 2006) but it is arguable that the educational effectiveness of using this approach to synthesising feedback remains under-explored. While principles of good feedback practice (Nicol & Macfarlane-Dick, 2006) recognise the value of tutor and peer dialogues around feedback, for example, these are difficult to realise when students receive online feedback on their own at a home computer (Denton & Rowe, 2015). Moreover, constructive personal developments prompted by tutor comments and allied with learning, such as self-assessment and the enhancement of self-esteem, will be attenuated if students perceive statement-bank feedback to be generic and lacking individuality.…”

“…A recent study found little evidence for learning from statement-bank feedback, even when marks were initially hidden and students were invited to predict their performance, however, the appropriateness of the research instrument was questioned (Denton & Rowe, 2015). Boud (2000) has suggested that learning from assessment may be demonstrated by providing opportunities for students to use feedback on preparatory work to improve their performance in subsequent summative tasks with related assessment criteria.…”