ABSTRACT
It should come as no surprise that students in higher education rate assessment and feedback processes as the least satisfactory aspect of their experiences (Higher Education Funding Council for England 2010) – the development of effective and efficient assessment and feedback practices is one of the biggest challenges facing teachers in higher education. The challenge is intellectually, linguistically and emotionally demanding and requires a major investment in time. This chapter will relate how a three-stage assessment and feedback process, designed to engage students in the process, has been successfully implemented over a three-year period. The three sequential stages were: (1) early pre-emptive feedback from the tutor to students to give students confidence that they are on the right track; (2) formative processes in which students are engaged in the assessment of the work of peers and their own work; and (3) summative assessment and feedback from the tutor. Students have expressed a high level of satisfaction with the process, and the pass rate has significantly improved over the period of this study. The implementation of these processes and achieving a quick turnaround of feedback were only possible through the use of online technology – a paper-based system would be too labour-intensive, take too long and be cumbersome.
