Good practice in assessment feedback in social studies: highlighting the significance of the student-teacher relationship

Assessment feedback has consistently emerged as an area of concern to students completing National Student Satisfaction Surveys (NSS). It is recognised as being an important element of the student learning experience and as such it remains a significant focus of enhancement activity. Using mixed research methods, the research reported in this article sought to identify student and academic staff perspectives as to what constitutes effective assessment feedback practice. The research was informed by subject level data from three English universities, with a particular focus on subjects related to social policy and social work. Whilst supportive of previous research reports (for example, Nicol and Macfarlane-Dick 2006, McDowell 2008, McDowell and Sambell 1999, Crook et al 2006), findings from this project particularly highlight the central significance to students of the quality of their relationships with staff. Indeed, other generic factors that are often argued to impact on assessment feedback, such as timeliness and consistency, appear to be contingent on the quality of staff-student relationships

Creative analysis of NSS data and collaborative research to inform good practice in assessment feedback

Funded by the Subject Centre for Social Policy and Social Work (SWAP), this research project sought to identify student and academic staff perspectives as to what constitutes effective assessment feedback practice. It was, in part, a subject level exploration in response to the fact that assessment feedback has consistently emerged as an area of concern to students completing National Student Satisfaction Surveys. Using mixed research methods, including drawing on data from the 2009 National Student Survey, the research was undertaken across SWAP constituency subject-areas in three universities. Whilst supportive of previous research reports (for example, Nicol & Macfarlane-Dick 2004, McDowell 2008, McDowell and Sambell 1999, Crook et al 2006), findings from this project particularly highlight the central significance to students of the quality of their relationships with staff. Indeed, other generic factors that are often argued to impact on assessment feedback such as timeliness and consistency appear to be contingent on the quality of staff-student relationships within specific departmental context

‘Getting started’: using technology to enhance student transition into university

Identification of the benefits of transition support for students entering higher education. Reviewing the value of the early development of ‘research-mindedness’ and ‘preparation for academic practice’ through pre-induction activities. Describing alternative technologies for providing pre-entry support. Considering the effectiveness of early preparation for academic practice

Pre registration opportunities for social work degree students

Opportunity for potential students, with an offer of a place, to access a site on Blackboard PRIOR to induction week with aim to ease the transition process. Site offers preparatory content for academic, social and practical challenges of Higher Education and includes discussion board for contact with staff and existing students for queries, support and reassurance. Project is an example of proactive management of transition to higher education, seen as key to student retention and success

Student as producer: research-engaged teaching, an institutional strategy

Student as Producer is a curriculum development project that has been ongoing at the University of Lincoln since 2007. The aim of the project has been to promote research-engaged teaching as the organising principle for teaching and learning across all subjects and all levels of taught provision at Lincoln. While there are many examples of research-engaged teaching in higher education what makes the curriculum distinctive at Lincoln is that research-engaged teaching is the default position for all teaching and learning at the University. While Student as Producer has been under development at Lincoln since 2007 this report focuses on the period 2010-2013, when the University of Lincoln received funding, £200,000, from the Higher Education Academy to develop the programme. The main focus of this report is the embedding and implementation of Student as Producer at Lincoln, but as Student as Producer extends beyond Lincoln to involve other higher education providers the report will also pay attention to the external national and international impact of Student as Producer across the higher education sector. Student as Producer was conceived during momentous times in the history of higher education in this country, including a massive increase in student fees and the withdrawal of public funding for teaching the Arts, Humanities and Social Science. For a brief moment in time English students were at the forefront of protests across Europe against the financialisation of higher education and the politics of austerity (Bailey and Freedman 2011). Throughout this period academics involved with Student as Producer have written publications that have provided a consistent and clear position against the notion of student as consumer (Boden and Epstein2006) and the pedagogy of debt (Williams 2006)

Pedagogies of partnership: what works

Pedagogies of partnership: What works? seeks to identify whether the student learning experience is enhanced or in any way made different through the implementation of teaching and learning that is explicitly intended to foster partnership. The value of student-staff partnerships and student engagement is recognised nationally and in literature. The report suggests that the process of partnership working in undergraduate learning and teaching is as important as the end product. It also highlights that while partnership working is often defined as the relationship between staff and student, the importance of peer-to-peer partnership and student partnership with the external environment is key. - See more at: https://www.heacademy.ac.uk/resource/pedagogies-partnership-what-works#sthash.l02l5C3W.dpu

The student as producer: learning by doing research

The idea of encouraging students to engage in research activity, becoming ‘knowledge producers’ rather than consumers of an educational ‘product’, is central to a number of recent initiatives aimed at tackling the historic dichotomy between research and teaching in higher education. This chapter examines the development of research-based learning in higher education and analyses the experience of one university which has introduced a research bursary scheme for undergraduate students. This case study is used to identify the implications of research-based learning for the practice of Learning Development. This chapter also identifies the key issues students doing research will need to become familiar with, including methods of collecting and analysing data, and an understanding of the nature of research within the context of their discipline

Pedagogy of excess: an alternative political economy of student life

Pedagogy of Excess looks to the world-wide social protests of 1968, in which students played a central role, for inspiration for the notion of research-engaged teaching. Grounded in critical social theory and based on historical material that deals with the events in Paris, Pedagogy of Excess describes 1968 as a moment when the students became more than students, and acted as revealers of a general crisis by demystifying the process of research. The students did this by engaging in various forms of theoretical and practical activity that took them beyond the normal limits of what is meant by higher education. It is the notion of students becoming more than students through a radical process of revelation that provide the basis for our concept of Pedagogy of Excess. At the end of the chapter we discuss Pedagogy of Excess in relation to other critical pedagogies, and set out a curriculum based on the principles of pedagogical excess

Raising student wellbeing standards through the 'Student as Producer' principle

Raising Student Wellbeing Through the 'Student as Producer' Principle * Using the guiding principle of ‘Student as Producer’ in order to foster collaboration and discovery through strong student and staff relationships * From induction to graduation: Ensuring appropriate, accessible and effective support for all students throughout their education * Driving student engagement: Staff as 'engagement-ready' for service transformation * Changing the conversation: Enabling students, staff and partners implement and engage with student centred solutions and model