| Abstrakt: |
Lecturers spend a lot of time assessing and marking students' work. They give written feedback on submitted work but students rarely use that feedback for future learning. Research shows that feedback on students' writings can greatly help students to learn, provided that the feedback is given in a timely manner, is sufficiently informative for the students and there are opportunities for students to act on the feedback. Of late, technology provides marking software like crocodoc which allows online marking and feedback. The practical and pedagogical benefits these tools offer include, easier assignment handling and storage of feedback, and more varied ways in which feedback on written student work can be constructed. Whilst, the rich potential for more effectiveness of lecturer's marking practices is starting to emerge, it is recognised that the real impact is yet to be illustrated, and that further evidence is required. This paper presents the results of a case study which took place in an Education course taken by 210 first-year Bachelor of Education students. Two lecturers provided first year students with online feedback on a series of written essays using Crocodoc marking software and a rubric. The purpose of the case study was to investigate whether the shift to an online marking process would help lecturers to develop a more efficient workflow, and consequently save time. Lecturers' and students' perceptions regarding effectiveness and feedback quality were obtained via online questionnaires and interviews with the programme coordinators. Results show that the use of Crocodoc did save time and improved record keeping of work according to majority of the lecturers. Particularly text-annotated feedback that is directly linked to the work of the students, combined with personal summarizing remarks, was perceived as quality-enhancing by students as well as lecturers. Rubrics proved to help in consistency of marking. Students found online feedback clear and motivational, and an excellent tool when improving their texts. Recommendations are that the implementation of an online feedback in large courses would benefit the institution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
