Engaging with student feedback

This topic provides insight into how engagement with student feedback is evolving beyond the previously popular “you said, we did” approach.

Many formal opportunities exist for students to provide feedback on learning and teaching practice.These include module evaluation, involvement in School based committees or projects, and the National Student Survey.

Complementary informal mechanisms such as in-class discussion and mid-module feedback are often also utilised to gain insight to student perception and progress.

Recommendations for good practice in this area of activity include:

• clearly communicating how feedback from students is acted on; or why it is not acted upon
• shared understanding of the different types of student partnership that exist (for example, recognition that some discussions/activities do not represent a 50-50 partnership)
• utilising an appropriate range of (formal and informal) mechanisms for collecting feedback, reviewing information, and reporting on any subsequent actions
• providing opportunity for students to engage in all aspects of the feedback-enhancement cycle (for example, allowing for co-creation of viable developments based on the feedback provided) thus avoiding the perception of a purely reactive, consumer-client based model of feedback.

Examples are presented of how working in genuine partnership with students is enhancing learning and teaching practice and developing the overall student experience.