Introduction: English-language proficiency of medical practitioners is an issue attracting increasing attention in medical education. To best provide language education support, it is essential that learning needs are assessed and that useful feedback and advice are provided. We report the outcomes of a language assessment that was embedded within…

This paper reports the results of a study into the quality of peer feedback provided by students within a computerised peer-assessment environment. The study looks at the creation of a "feedback index" that represents the quality of an essay based upon the feedback provided during a peer-marking process and identifies a significant…

Commencing each class session with a class quiz, which emphasizes the previous week's work and is supported by immediate feedback, encourages students to revise their notes ahead of the session, undertake more reading and keep pace with course progression. It reduces the necessity for any spoken review of the previous week's work, provides…

This article describes a theory about the ambition of most Inspectorates to realise 'school improvement through inspection'. Literature about a number of direct and indirect interventions, such as reciprocity, communication and feedback is used to build a theoretical model stating the relations between working methods of school inspectors,…

The nature of written and oral peer feedback will be described as it occurred in seven writing courses, each with a different design of peer assessment. In all courses, peer feedback was focused on evaluation, which is one of the four feedback functions. Feedback on structure was hardly provided. Relating feedback to design features, we suggest…

Assessing students through their Microsoft PowerPoint presentations might be thought to be impossible, a waste of time or a fascination with new technology which will pass sooner or later. However, to make a judgement on such assertions requires examining the strengths and weaknesses of such a form of assessment. Examples within an academic…

Peer assessment is understood to be an arrangement with students assessing the quality of their fellow students' writings and giving feedback to each other. This multiple-case study of seven designs of peer assessment focuses on the contribution of peer assessment to the acquisition of undergraduates' writing skills. Its aim is to arrive at an…

This course design is characterized by a small group organization, course processes as models, direct personal learning about teaching in a supportive microteaching environment, and continuous evaluation and feedback. The evidence suggests that the course meets the needs of the university teacher and has desirable academic, social, and personal…

This paper reports on findings relating to a project on gender and essay assessment in HE. It focuses on one aspect of the study: the assessment of and feedback given to two sample essays by 50 historians based at universities in England and Wales. We found considerable variation both as to the classification awarded to the essays and to positive…

This paper presents the results of an experimental evaluation of a change in assessment practice in one comprehensive secondary school. The school divided 104 Year 7 pupils into four mixed-ability teaching groups. One of these was given enhanced formative feedback on their work for one year, but no marks or grades. The other three groups were…

This paper focuses on peer feedback in relation to assessment processes. It examines the rationale for peer feedback, emphasizing its potential for enhanced student learning. We draw on relevant literature to argue that the dominance of peer assessment processes using grades can undermine the potential of peer feedback for improving student…

There has been considerable debate about the impact of external quality assurance in higher education. This paper describes a discussion at the INQAAHE workshop in The Hague, attended by representatives of agencies, exploring the effects of external quality processes on institutions and programmes. The summary, probably for the first time,…

Discussion of the educational use of videoconferencing focuses on a videoconference in South Africa that showed the development of a puppetry production. Topics include scaffolding in the learning process; feedback from learners; assessing the use of videoconferencing, including cost issues; suggestions for using videoconferencing as an…

Explores the value of action research as a tool for educational practitioners to examine and potentially improve their own practice and thus enhance student learning. Discusses the relationship between feedback, formative evaluation, action research, and other educational research; and provides examples of evaluation enquiries from India and…

Describes one university's development, through action research, of formative elements in assessment, reviewing the planning, implementation, and evaluation of change in assessment; reporting the action research through implementation of actions to facilitate more effective use of formative feedback; and outlining evaluation of these actions…