Feedback engagement: forcing feed-forward amongst law students

Abstract

The academic community is all too familiar with the problems regarding assessment and feedback in higher education. Even preliminary research reveals a swarm of articles dedicated to the issues regarding student failure to understand performance criteria, lack of student engagement with feedback, and general dissatisfaction with feedback systems and processes. This article considers these well-reported problems, and explores academic opinion as to what constitutes a good feedback system. It is observed that while ideal models have been postulated, there is a lack of research into how these models can be practically put into effect, with particular emphasis here on the discipline of law. The focus of the article then shifts to this agenda, by reporting on a project developed in the University of Greenwich Law School designed to encourage both student understanding of performance criteria and engagement with feedback. The results reveal an encouraging effect on both, and a positive impact on academic performance.