Cat training with and without
biscuits
A case study by John Murphy and Jo Wiltshire
School of Humanities
Clotrimazole
Miow!!!!
The traditional
view is that
students will
not do
something
unless it is is
linked to
assessment
and a grade
In this case it
was found not
to be true on
two counts
(a) Even when
a task linked to
a grade
students are
unwilling to
step outside
their comfort
zone, and
(b) they will do
an assignment
that is not
graded if the
right story goes
with it
Starting point 1
o In journalism assignments involve writing
stories (mostly)
o Formative feedback is an important element
of teaching
o Despite repeated offers, students were not
bringing early drafts of their coursework
o At summative assessment some were found
to have either totally misinterpreted the
assignment brief, while others made basic
mistakes
Starting point 2
o Students leave assignments until near
the deadline, making it hard to fix
fundamental mistakes
o A large cohort makes conventional
approaches slow (e.g. making an
“essay plan” an assignment that is
summatively marked)
o Feedback from the student sitting next
to them is better than nothing, but
never considered (rivalry, maybe)
A new assignment?
Semester A Journalism news
• A presentation to the class of your idea and plan
for your final assignment worth 15 percent,
bonus marks for helping another student
• Summatively Assessed on presentation, feedback
on the plan given orally on the day
• Semester B Journalism Features
• Create a business plan for a new magazine and
present it to your working group. The group
votes for the magazine they like best and the
whole group works on it for the semester
• Worth zero marks, not seen by tutor, not assessed
except by group
Presentations?
o Feedback is instant
o Students can get involved
with giving feedback,
challenge and debate
issues raised
o Students can share their
ideas with someone other
than the tutor
o Students may be inspired
(or deflated) by seeing
other ideas
After three years - news
o 10-15 % significantly
change their plan for the
better
o 10 % totally change their
plan (would have failed)
o 50% totally ignore feedback
(similar feedback)
o 10% do not submit
o The rest change slightly,
but usually ignore the
major feedback
So what is the most common feedback?
The assignment is a
news feature a feature
that follows up on and
expands on a news
story (in Sunday Times
for example)
Most students ignore
the “news” angle,
even when reminded
at the presentation
The second most
common feedback is
suggesting they
approach an “expert”
for commentary or
explanation – pointing
to College Lane in
most cases
How is that explained?
Possible explanations include
students do not read
newspapers – their idea of
news is “postmodern”, ours is
bourgeois
Another is that they are shy
about approaching strangers
– they would rather lose the
marks
Marks are not everything
after all
Features outcome
o In year 1 tutors marked
the assignment pass/fail some whingeing
o Year 2/3 no marking, 95%
compliance, no whingeing
o Learning conversations
were heard from a
distance
o Next step - getting
students to discus their
work with their neighbour
and suggest a mark
Results
o Semester B where students led the
activity produced strong motivation in
the more able students
o Depth of learning was greater – very
subjective
o For less able students very little changed
because they were unwilling to share
their draft work even with other
students
o Feedback from students was higher
Conclusions
o While cats will do anything for Dreamies…
o … students will not do anything for marks
o Breaking down barriers between students
and giving them confidence is a challenge,
but produces the greatest change in
learning, maybe letting them see more of
their classmates work will help.