Loading...
First year Humanities and Social Science students’ experiences of engaging with written feedback in a post-1992 university
McGinty, Samantha Jr
McGinty, Samantha Jr
Authors
Editors
Other contributors
Affiliation
Epub Date
Issue Date
2007
Submitted date
Alternative
Abstract
First year Humanities and Social Science students’ experiences of engaging with written feedback in a post- 1992 university This thesis examines students’ experiences of engaging with written formative feedback in a post-1992 university. A body of literature on ‘engagement with feedback’ in higher education presents the student as somehow lacking the motivation to engage with feedback. The principles of a feminist methodology were adopted in an attempt to present the underrepresented views of students on the issue of their engagement with feedback. Participants were from two first year undergraduate modules which provided formative feedback on assignments. Qualitative research methods were used: 24 semi-structured interviews, 50 reflective writing documents and 83 questionnaires were collated for open-ended responses and descriptive patterns. Following an analysis of this data, an innovative model was developed. The ‘Student perspective on engaging with feedback model’ was based on the three phases students moved through when engaging with feedback, which was influenced by the type and style of feedback they required at different stages of their transition. This transition involved a period of liminality (a state of betwixt and between) as individuals waited to go through a rite of passage, which often led to students finding themselves in ‘stuck places’ and experiencing feelings of ‘being wrong’. The model demonstrates how firstly, students used the feedback as a ‘sign’ to confirm their learner identities. Secondly, students used the feedback to improve. They valued a personalised dialogue to enable them to do this successfully. Thirdly, they focused on future-orientated feedback, relating to employability and grades. These findings provide the basis for recommendations to HE tutors suggesting that changes to assessment practices and feedback comments may be beneficial for first year undergraduates as they navigate their transition to learning in higher education. First year Humanities and Social Science students’ experiences of engaging with written feedback in a post- 1992 university This thesis examines students’ experiences of engaging with written formative feedback in a post-1992 university. A body of literature on ‘engagement with feedback’ in higher education presents the student as somehow lacking the motivation to engage with feedback. The principles of a feminist methodology were adopted in an attempt to present the underrepresented views of students on the issue of their engagement with feedback. Participants were from two first year undergraduate modules which provided formative feedback on assignments. Qualitative research methods were used: 24 semi-structured interviews, 50 reflective writing documents and 83 questionnaires were collated for open-ended responses and descriptive patterns. Following an analysis of this data, an innovative model was developed. The ‘Student perspective on engaging with feedback model’ was based on the three phases students moved through when engaging with feedback, which was influenced by the type and style of feedback they required at different stages of their transition. This transition involved a period of liminality (a state of betwixt and between) as individuals waited to go through a rite of passage, which often led to students finding themselves in ‘stuck places’ and experiencing feelings of ‘being wrong’. The model demonstrates how firstly, students used the feedback as a ‘sign’ to confirm their learner identities. Secondly, students used the feedback to improve. They valued a personalised dialogue to enable them to do this successfully. Thirdly, they focused on future-orientated feedback, relating to employability and grades. These findings provide the basis for recommendations to HE tutors suggesting that changes to assessment practices and feedback comments may be beneficial for first year undergraduates as they navigate their transition to learning in higher education. First year Humanities and Social Science students’ experiences of engaging with written feedback in a post- 1992 university This thesis examines students’ experiences of engaging with written formative feedback in a post-1992 university. A body of literature on ‘engagement with feedback’ in higher education presents the student as somehow lacking the motivation to engage with feedback. The principles of a feminist methodology were adopted in an attempt to present the underrepresented views of students on the issue of their engagement with feedback. Participants were from two first year undergraduate modules which provided formative feedback on assignments. Qualitative research methods were used: 24 semi-structured interviews, 50 reflective writing documents and 83 questionnaires were collated for open-ended responses and descriptive patterns. Following an analysis of this data, an innovative model was developed. The ‘Student perspective on engaging with feedback model’ was based on the three phases students moved through when engaging with feedback, which was influenced by the type and style of feedback they required at different stages of their transition. This transition involved a period of liminality (a state of betwixt and between) as individuals waited to go through a rite of passage, which often led to students finding themselves in ‘stuck places’ and experiencing feelings of ‘being wrong’. The model demonstrates how firstly, students used the feedback as a ‘sign’ to confirm their learner identities. Secondly, students used the feedback to improve. They valued a personalised dialogue to enable them to do this successfully. Thirdly, they focused on future-orientated feedback, relating to employability and grades. These findings provide the basis for recommendations to HE tutors suggesting that changes to assessment practices and feedback comments may be beneficial for first year undergraduates as they navigate their transition to learning in higher education.
Citation
Publisher
Journal
Research Unit
DOI
PubMed ID
PubMed Central ID
Embedded videos
Additional Links
Type
Thesis or dissertation
Language
n/a