Engaging Students with Audio Feedback

Alan Cann

doi:10.11120/beej.2014.00027

Abstract

Students express widespread dissatisfaction with academic feedback. Teaching staff perceive a frequent lack of student engagement with written feedback, much of which goes uncollected or unread. Published evidence shows that audio feedback is highly acceptable to students but is underused. This paper explores methods to produce and deliver audio feedback to a range of students engaged in a variety of academic tasks with the aim of maximising student engagement while working towards a framework which could increase the use of audio feedback by teaching staff.

Highlights

This paper explores methods to produce and deliver audio feedback to a range of students engaged in a variety of academic tasks with the aim of maximising student engagement while working towards a framework which could increase the use of audio feedback by teaching staff
With substantial investment by Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) in learning technologies such as Virtual Learning Environments (VLEs), the last decade has seen technology increasingly used to mediate between students and teaching staff (Hepplestone et al 2011)
The responses received were generally positive towards the use of audio feedback, several students commented that they found it difficult to access their feedback via GradeMark

Summary

Introduction

With substantial investment by Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) in learning technologies such as Virtual Learning Environments (VLEs), the last decade has seen technology increasingly used to mediate between students and teaching staff (Hepplestone et al 2011). While institutions need to recoup investment and manage growing student numbers in a time of financial stringency, it is valid to ask whether technology is the answer or merely generates another problem with feedback on student work, increasing remoteness from teaching staff. The main problems students report are not with the amount of feedback they receive but with timeliness and perceived relevance. Teaching staff complain about lack of student engagement with feedback and a loss of connection with students. Laboratory notebooks from practical classes often contain a mixture of observations such as drawings and writing which is difficult to capture electronically, and difficult to process other than on paper

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Conclusion