{"id":1310,"date":"2021-11-15T10:27:22","date_gmt":"2021-11-15T10:27:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/learning-design\/?p=1310"},"modified":"2021-11-11T15:31:41","modified_gmt":"2021-11-11T15:31:41","slug":"listening-to-students-in-real-time-how-feedback-leads-to-success","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/learning-design\/?p=1310","title":{"rendered":"Listening to students in real time: how feedback leads to success"},"content":{"rendered":"

Like all robust development processes, our learning design approach includes\u00a0a number of\u00a0opportunities to\u00a0learn\u00a0from feedback.\u00a0One is our\u00a0curriculum design student panel<\/a>\u00a0(aimed at\u00a0capturing students\u2019 views on learning design ideas before they\u2019re live). Another is\u00a0real-time student feedback\u00a0(RTSF), which\u00a0gathers feedback from students as they\u2019re studying\u00a0with the aim of\u00a0ensuring\u00a0they get the support they need.\u00a0Short questionnaires\u00a0focusing on recently studied topics\u00a0are embedded into students\u2019 online study planners\u00a0so they can reflect and comment on their experiences\u00a0and receive extra guidance based on their comments.<\/p>\n

Our module teams can learn from RTSF too. In this post, we\u00a0take a look\u00a0at how students and module teams can benefit from\u00a0RTSF\u00a0and some of the impacts it\u2019s making.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

The value of real-time feedback<\/h6>\n

RTSF helps students in several ways. For example, it\u00a0prompts recall of key concepts\u00a0and helps them reflect on their own study experience and methods. It also\u00a0gives them a chance to get involved in learning design \u2013 something members of our curriculum design student panel<\/a> tell us they enjoy \u2013 and learn about their own learning.<\/p>\n

Module teams can learn\u00a0from RTSF\u00a0too. It prompts them reflect on the topics\u00a0that\u00a0students\u00a0found\u00a0challenging\u00a0and why they might need more support than was initially planned. They\u00a0can also use RTSF to gather feedback on innovative or previously successful aspects of a module. This can reveal whether\u00a0students have responded\u00a0new materials\u00a0as expected\u00a0or whether extra guidance or a rethink is needed. All of this helps our module teams build a more detailed picture of students, their expectations and their needs.<\/p>\n

What students have told us<\/h6>\n

Here\u2019s a snapshot of some of the feedback we\u2019ve gathered this year:<\/p>\n

Engineering students were asked for feedback on the collaborative activities on their module. Groupwork is an important aspect of working in the industry so it was important that skills were embedded into the\u00a0learning activities.\u00a0Students told us that they enjoyed the\u00a0collaborative work\u00a0although many of them found\u00a0it\u00a0challenging. They provided a number of suggestions for\u00a0guidance that the module team are considering for future presentations, including adding tutor support and a dedicated tutorial.<\/p>\n

Language students commented on a new caf\u00e9-style event designed to help them practise their conversation skills and build confidence before an assignment.\u00a0They reported that they found the event useful, and the module team plan to include it again in future presentations.<\/p>\n

English literature students were asked about a new book club activity and in particular, how it helped them build independent study skills.\u00a0They responded with enthusiasm for the club and the opportunities it presented not just to build skills but also to interact with other students. This approach will be used for other modules.<\/p>\n

Postgraduate business students\u00a0gave feedback\u00a0about preparing\u00a0for a visual essay\u00a0that formed part of an assessment.\u00a0\u00a0Responses showed that many students felt uncertain about\u00a0visual essays, prompting the module team to provide additional guidance through tutor group forums and tutorials.<\/p>\n

Students on an education module provided comments about the media available and the amount of time they spent studying different topics. The module team responded by clarifying information about expected study times.<\/p>\n

Students on a\u00a0modern\u00a0languages\u00a0module commented on the personal development planning opportunities available. Some felt they hadn\u2019t made the most of these, so an extra tutorial was provided to offer extra support.<\/p>\n

RTSF: getting started<\/h6>\n

RTSF is designed to be\u00a0easy for students\u00a0to engage with.\u00a0Questionnaires are designed to be short and focused to make the most of students\u2019 time.\u00a0Questions are focused on recent material so that students can remember what they\u2019re being asked about and provide feedback easily.<\/p>\n

We\u2019ve also made it easy for our module teams.\u00a0For example, we\u2019ve developed\u00a0templates\u00a0to help busy module authors develop questionnaires that will generate information they can act on.<\/p>\n

Visit our\u00a0RTSF intranet site<\/a>\u00a0[internal link]\u00a0for more information about how to embed RTSF into a\u00a0module.<\/p>\n

Related articles<\/h6>\n

Engagement with others online: students\u2019 views of course design<\/a><\/p>\n

Using real time student feedback as an emotion awareness and regulation tool in an assessed, online, collaborative project<\/a><\/p>\n

\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\n
\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Like all robust development processes, our learning design approach includes\u00a0a number of\u00a0opportunities to\u00a0learn\u00a0from feedback.\u00a0One is our\u00a0curriculum design student panel\u00a0(aimed at\u00a0capturing students\u2019 views on learning design ideas before they\u2019re live). Another is\u00a0real-time student feedback\u00a0(RTSF), which\u00a0gathers feedback from students as they\u2019re studying\u00a0with the aim of\u00a0ensuring\u00a0they get the support they need.\u00a0Short questionnaires\u00a0focusing on recently studied topics\u00a0are embedded into […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":1311,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16,1,35],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1310","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-evaluation","category-learning-design","category-ld-under-the-hood"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/learning-design\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1310","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/learning-design\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/learning-design\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/learning-design\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/learning-design\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1310"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/learning-design\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1310\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1314,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/learning-design\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1310\/revisions\/1314"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/learning-design\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1311"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/learning-design\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1310"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/learning-design\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1310"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/learning-design\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1310"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}