Can dialogue help to improve feedback on examinations?

Abstract

Student dissatisfaction with feedback is widely acknowledged in Higher Education. This has resulted in investigations that have offered suggestions for improving student satisfaction levels. This article examines one area of student concern by focusing on the feedback that students receive on examinations. The article reports the findings of student surveys and focus groups with regard to attitudes towards and experience of examinations. In addition, the article reviews the findings of an exemplar exercise that is highlighted as a particular way of enhancing feedback practices on examinations. The research findings are the product of a three-year study into student experience of feedback that paid particular attention to the case of dialogue as a means of improving the student experience. Analysis of the findings emphasise the need to tackle the feedback deficit on examinations and in turn lead to a number of recommendations for creating a model of dialogic exam feedback.