The EnFA Project, Enhancing Assessment and Feedback

Rationale: Strengthening communication and student support are university priorities. Feedback is an important component of this and should enable students to realise their academic potential. The School of Allied Health and Community (SAHC) scored significantly under the University of Worcester (UoW) average in the assessment and feedback metric in the 2022-23 National Student Survey (NSS), with Occupational Therapy (OT) and Physiotherapy (PT) reporting the most significant reductions in their scores.

Aims: This SAP project aimed to explore Occupational Therapy and Physiotherapy student perspectives of assessment and feedback, and what makes this fair and effective.

Method: A participatory action research (PAR) approach was chosen to empower students and ensure active engagement in data collection and analysis and enable co-production of an action plan to improve practice (Baum et al, 2006, pp. 854). Two students were recruited through the SAP scheme and planned and led an online focus group to explore student perspectives on assessment and feedback. Ethical approval was granted by the Health and Sciences Research Ethics Panel. Student partners transcribed and thematically analysed the data. The research team worked together to produce an action plan and the final report.

Results: Two participants were recruited, one from the BSc OT course and one from the BSc PT course. Recruitment was challenging due to the timing of clinical placements, assessment deadlines, availability of researchers and ‘feedback fatigue’. Themes included: lack of consistency across modules, staff accessibility, transparency of expectations and peer support and feedback. The emotional impact of assessment was noted throughout the data.

Action Plan: Staff are planning an audit of Blackboard to improve consistency and accessibility of assessment information, improve guidance on and consistency of tutorial support, explore the increased use of exemplars, and encourage team reflection on the emotional impact of assessment and how this can be mitigated