Understand, Engage, Act focuses specifically on developing feedback literacy where both teachers and students share a common understanding of effective feedback practice (see Evans, 2013, 2016; Wong, 2019). This approach builds on a wealth of research highlighting that for feedback to support student learning, it is critical that students actively engage with and act on it (Winstone and Nash, 2016), acknowledging that barriers, such as not understanding or knowing how to interpret feedback, often mean students feel unable to act (Jonsson, 2013).
Project history
Understand, Engage, Act initially ran as a 2020/21 TDF project which brought students and staff together to uncover differences in their experiences and expectations of assessment feedback.
The project involved initial staff and student surveys to ascertain perceptions of the feedback process, using the findings to inform discussion between students and staff at a series of workshops. Across these workshops, students and their teaching staff worked together to identify opportunities within unit learning and teaching activity to develop feedback literacy.
Lessons learned from the UEA approach have informed our Top Tips for Assessment and Feedback and project staff have been sharing their experiences at departmental community of practice and teaching strategy events.
If you'd like to know more about the project or how you can make use of the Understand, Engage, Act approach in your teaching then please get in touch with Dr Robert Eaton, Dr Karen Angus-Cole, or Prof John Chew (project leads).
Understand, Engage, Act has been presented at a range of internal and external events, including:
- ChemEng Day 2022, UCL
- AdvanceHE Teaching and Learning Conference 2022: Teaching in the spotlight: Where next for enhancing student success? Northumbria University
Resources
Resources developed from the project are available via the Developing student and staff feedback literacy webpage.
Understand, Engage, Act
A Teaching Development Fund project aimed at aligning student and staff approaches to assessment feedback literacy to support successful learning outcomes.
Further information
Updated on: 28 January 2022