School Education Committee
Student Feedback in the School of Arts and Humanities
What is feedback?
Feedback is at the very heart of learning and teaching in the School of Arts and
Humanities. In its simplest form, feedback is a constructive dialogue between student and
teacher. It aims to be insightful, critical, and enabling: feedback is an exercise in learning
rather than a mere quantitative measure that indicates how well you have done in your last
piece of work.
The feedback you receive over the course of your degree will come in many different
forms, both formal and informal, including assessment grades, written comments on work,
conversations with tutors, notes to an entire class, and discussion with other students in
seminars. Although the following guidance often uses the example of feedback on written
work (such as coursework essays), it is equally applicable to other assessed activities such as
presentations.
Whatever form your feedback takes, it is a valuable tool in ensuring your next relevant
piece of work/activity improves.
In a lecture another student may ask a question that you might not have asked yourself, and the lecturer or
seminar leader’s response is feedback to you as well as to the person who asked the question.
Feedback is a two-way process between yourself and your lecturers/seminar leaders. It is
your responsibility to make sure that you understand the feedback you receive and to seek
out a more detailed explanation if you need it. Feedback should be easy to understand and
to act upon.
Assessment criteria
As students in the School of Arts and Humanities, you will be able to understand why you
received the grade you were given in relation to the formal assessment criteria that markers
use when providing feedback on your work. The assessment criteria enable you to know
what you are aiming for and to identify the areas that need improvement. Making best use
of the formal feedback you receive will help you to meet the required standards and to
build upon this in each new piece of work you do.
The School’s marking criteria for undergraduate and postgraduate students can be found in
the Student Handbook:
http://www.kcl.ac.uk/artshums/study/handbook/sguides/ugmark.aspx
(Undergraduate Marking Criteria)
http://www.kcl.ac.uk/artshums/study/handbook/sguides/pgtmark.aspx
(Postgraduate Marking Criteria)
Timeliness of feedback
It is College Policy to provide you with a deadline by which all feedback will be delivered;
normally this will be no longer than four weeks from the submission deadline. To be
effective, feedback must be delivered promptly, while you still have a clear recollection of
the assignment you have just submitted, and so that it can feed forward into the next
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assignment. In all cases the timeframe in which you can expect to receive your feedback
should be made clear so that you know when to expect it.
Your role in the feedback process
There is a core assumption in the School that you will take responsibility for your own
learning and this also applies to feedback. However, learning works best as a two-way
process and lecturers/seminar leaders, along with your personal tutor, are there to be of
assistance. Asking for help may seem daunting in your first year at university but if you
actively request information it is more likely that feedback in that form will enhance your
learning.
Discussions in seminars or tutorials are a form of feedback that helps you to recognise the strengths and
weaknesses of your ideas
The role of self-assessment
As you write your assignment consider the standards you are supposed to achieve and the
academic conventions (for argument and citing evidence: all departments conform to
specific style guidelines) to which you must adhere. Use this awareness to revise and
improve your assignment before it is submitted. You should read and re-read drafts several
times before you submit your work; this is good practice. In this sense the main feedback
process that takes place is with you, as you self-assess. Leave yourself time to revise your
draft in the light of this self-assessment: do not hand it in without checking.
Asking for feedback
Do not be afraid to ask for specific feedback if ever you feel you need further guidance.
You should usually expect to receive feedback on your knowledge and understanding of
the subject-matter at hand, and more specifically the strengths and weaknesses of your
arguments, the factual accuracy of the material you presented, whether you have addressed
the question/essay title sufficiently, and the appropriateness of the sources you selected to
do the assignment.
NB: If you do not receive feedback on your assessment within the deadlines specified
above, and have not been informed of any delays, notify your student representative, the
Programme Convenor or your Personal Tutor who will investigate the matter.
If you still do not receive feedback please contact:
Dr Ben Schofield ([email protected])
Senior Tutor and Chair of the School Staff/Student Liaison Committee
or
Kate Marshall ([email protected])
Student Experience & Education Officer
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