Frequently Asked Questions

• Can I give feedback on exams?

  Yes - feedback can be given on exams.  There are a number of ways to do this:

  • See students individually and go through the script with the student
  • Some Schools copy the comments on the back cover of the exam script and these are available for students to collect
  • Provide a summary for each question of what students who did well on a question did and what students who gave an inadequate response did.  This could be put on QOL.  Such a report is often provided for External Examiners.
• How do I give feedback quickly?
  • When the work has been submitted skim through a random selection noting common erors and what has been done well.   This can either be e-mailed to students or discussed in the next session.
  • If students hand work in in the session, give them a prepared sheet of what students in the past did well and the common errors.  Of course, this could be given to students BEFORE they start the work.
  • Provide a model answer when the work has been handed in.
  • Feedback within 24 hours is an aim, but ...
• How do I give automated feedback?
  • If students submit an electronic copy of their work, use the comments facility in WORD and e-mail the annotated version back to the student.
  • In response to student complaints about the lack of punctuality in getting feedback and also the variability in the type/quality of feedback from different staff, the School of Psychology has moved to an electronic based system.  Students submit all coursework electronically through QOL. Individualised feedback sheets with student number and name are automatically generated by the office staff for each piece of coursework.  These are then uploaded into individual tutor/marker folders on SharePoint.  Staff mark the work on screen using the Review function in Word adding in comments as appropriate.   A summary of comments is transcribed onto the feedback sheet and the coursework with all comments is pasted in afterwards to create a feedback document.  This is uploaded back onto SharePoint where the office staff perform a mail merge which automatically emails the feedback documents to each individual student at the same time.  This allows all students to get their feedback punctually, within two weeks and it also gives Year Tutors and the Director of Education a way of checking feedback quality.  In general this system has worked well with students reacting favourably to the system of receiving electronic feedback.
    The system was designed and constructed in the School of Psychology using MS Office.  If you would like any further information about this system please contact Prof. Cathy Craig in the School.
  • If students submit work to Turnitin2, it is possible to use the GradeMark facility to comment on the student work.  This uses statement banks. Contact CED to confirm you School’s interest.
  • Dr Phil Denton, LJMU School of Pharmacy and Chemistry, has produced Electronic Feedback Software which uses MS Word and Excel.  This software is free.  

  Please note, that you will initially need to spend some time before marking setting up statement banks and assessment criteria etc if you use either the Turnitin2 or the Electronic Feedback Software.

• How can I give audio feedback?
  • You can download Audacity.  This is freely available.  You need a reasonable microphone.  You can edit your recording to remove the ums, ers and long pauses by highlighting the section and deleting.  Equally you can move and copy speech using the cut and paste faciliities.  This can then be saved as a MP3 file and emailed to students. 
  • If you have a smart phone then you can download voice recorder apps, if the phone does not already have an adequate voice recorder, and email these to students.
    Generally, we are able to give more feedback in audio format because most of us speak faster than we type.  When giving audio feedback ensure that you leave the mark until the end so that students have to listen to everything you have to say.