Assessment and Feedback
Assessment and feedback form part of my key responsibilities as a design lecturer. I approach these as opportunities to nurture growth, encourage reflection, and support each student’s creative and professional development. I deliver both formative and summative assessments across all year groups, accompanied by constructive verbal and/or written feedback.
UAL Assessment Criteria
UAL (2019). New Assessment Criteria. [online] UAL. Available at: https://www.arts.ac.uk/students/stories/new-assessment-criteria3. (Accessed on 13 March 2026)
My feedback is closely aligned with UAL’s assessment criteria and the unit learning outcomes (UAL, 2022). This helps students to understand how their work relates to the required standards and enables them to work strategically towards achieving the highest possible grade in their summative assessment. At the same time, I aim to ensure that feedback reflects professional standards, practical scenarios, and workplace practices. In doing so, the knowledge and experience students gain are not only academically relevant but also professionally applicable.
Formative Feedback
Formative feedback is delivered through both one-to-one tutorials and group sessions. In group settings, I encourage students to provide constructive feedback to one another, emphasising that peer contributions hold equal value to my own and that “there is no hierarchy in the exchange of ideas” (Higgs et al., 2012). As Ken Robinson and Lou Aronica (2009, p. 238) note, “Children learn best when they learn from each other and when their teachers are learning with them.” Although this example refers to primary education, the underlying principle of collaborative learning can be applied equally to higher education.
While some students participate confidently in peer feedback, others require guidance, prompts, and encouragement. Factors such as social anxiety or shyness may act as barriers to contributing to group discussions. Additionally, some students may feel reluctant to contribute if they are uncertain whether their feedback will be meaningful or valuable. This uncertainty can limit participation and reduce the potential learning benefits of peer feedback activities.
It may be necessary to provide alternative forms of participation that reduce the pressure of speaking publicly. As discussed in my Reflective Blogpost 1, incorporating multiple modes of engagement, such as written comments, small-group discussions, or anonymous digital/analog responses, may help create a more inclusive environment for feedback exchange. Providing scaffolding for peer feedback can support students in developing confidence and evaluative judgement over time.
Tutorial Record Sheet
Bikker, D. (2026) Tutorial Record Sheet [Photograph]
Alternative Forms of Peer Feedback
During a recent formative assessment, one alternative form of student participation was trialled. Students were asked to complete a tutorial record sheet alongside one filled in by the tutors. The aim was for students to document their responses to their classmates’ projects. This approach had some positive impact, as it helped to visualise the feedback being given. However, it did not fully succeed in encouraging participation from all students. On reflection, the process may have felt too formal, which could have added too much pressure and discouraged some students from engaging actively in giving feedback.
To address this, a more informal and interactive feedback method could be introduced, such as the one exercised during our micro-teaching session where participants wrote down their feedback, anonymously, on sticky notes. This approach could lower the barrier to participation, encourage quicker responses, and can make the feedback process feel more conversational and less formal.
Such strategies align with the concept of dialogic feedback, which emphasises feedback as an interactive process that supports student engagement and learning rather than a one-directional transmission of evaluation (David Carless & David Boud, 2018). Encouraging students to actively participate in feedback processes can help them develop evaluative judgement and a deeper understanding of quality in their own work.
References
Carless, D., & Boud, D. (2018). The development of student feedback literacy: enabling uptake of feedback. Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education, 43(8), 1315–1325.
Higgs, J. et al. (2012). Practice-Based Education: Perspectives and Strategies. Sense Publishers
Robinson, K. and Aronica, L. (2009). The Element: how finding your passion changes everything. Penguin.
UAL (2022). Assessment and marking criteria. [online] Available at: https://www.arts.ac.uk/study-at-ual/course-regulations/assessment [Accessed: 13 March 2026]