An Evaluation of Student and Staff Perceptions of the Use of Audio Files for Feedback on Student Assessments

Studies have indicated that students may prefer verbal to written feedback (Orsmond et al., 2005) with one of the possible methods of delivering this being identified as through audio recording (Hounsell, 2004). Audio feedback can also bring improvements in accessibility, providing a higher degree of detail and personalisation whilst promoting a greater degree of learner engagement (Ribchester, 2008), thereby addressing several of Nicol and Macfarlane-Dick’s seven principles of good feedback practice (2006). Merry and Orsmond (2008) provide confirmation of this in their pilot study, where fifteen students received audio feedback on their written work, the main reported drawback being the size of the audio files, resulting in some difficulties with e-mail systems. In summing up their project, they propose a series of eight guidelines to support tutors

This project sought to utilise audio files for feedback on written assessments with the intention of maximising both staff time and the quality of the feedback whilst at the same time aiming to enhance student uptake of the feedback. It was motivated by a guest speaker at the previous University of Worcester Learning and Teaching conference in June 2008 and aimed to extend their previous work. An initial random sample of twenty-five student assignments were selected, with five of these allocated to each marker. Audio files were recorded by tutors onto handheld dictation machines, the files then being uploaded to a PC. The selected students were then invited to take part in the study with focus group interviews with both staff and students in order to ascertain their views of the process. Recordings of the feedback and interviews were then thematically analysed. This paper gives an outline of the work in progress and presents the findings so far.