Staff Development

Forum for Innovation in Teaching and Learning Support

Student Competition Title (2008):

“Effective Feedback – what has worked for you and why?”

We would like you to draw on your experience of receiving feedback on your academic performance from staff in the University of Ulster.

You may wish to consider formal or informal feedback provided by teachers and peers in a range of formats (verbal, written, electronic).

Submission Categories (one prize of Ł250 available for each):

Written account -Undergraduate students
Written account – Taught Post-graduate students
Alternative media submission e.g. blog, sound or video recording, storyboard and graphics

Click on the links below for further details

How to Submit
Criteria
Rules
Publicity
Organising Body
Application Form
Further competitions

How to Submit

Applications must be submitted electronically by Friday May 2^nd 2008 together with a completed entry form to studentcompetition@ulster.ac.uk with Student Competition in the message header.

Criteria

Submitted pieces will be assessed against the following criteria and should:

· Include examples of feedback in your subject

· Analyse the effects of feedback

· Explain the effects that you think feedback should have

· Explain how teachers can provide feedback with positive effects

· Be sensitive to cultural, contextual and institutional differences (i.e. it should not expose particular individuals or openly criticise an individual department. Ideally you should anonymise any reference to individuals within your submission.)

· Provide an individual and honest account.

· As far as you can, see things from others’ viewpoints and provide potentially perceptive observations and helpful ideas for teaching staff.

· Make your submission entertaining and interesting.

For Written Accounts and Blogs

· Ensure that it is reasonably written in terms of structure, grammar and spelling.

· Not vary from 1000 word limit by more than 10% either way.

· Submit your account with the application form in electronic format.

For Sound or Video Recordings

Ensure the recording quality is good.
Ensure that the message is not lost through too much emphasis on the delivery medium.
Not exceed a maximum length of 5 minutes.
Submit in 3GP, MPEG or MP3 format

For Story Boards/ Graphics

Not exceed 2 A4 pages
Submit in PDF or JPEG format

Be aware that a glowing report may be pleasant to read but we anticipate that a thorough, fair exposition of what you found, if critical, fully argued and explained is the most likely to win high marks from the judges.

Rules:

Entrants must be currently registered on an undergraduate or taught postgraduate course within the University of Ulster
Only one entry is permitted per student
Entries must be the original work of the student submitting the entry
The judges’ decision is final
The judges reserve the right not to award a prize in a category where submissions do not meet an appropriate standard

Publicity

Winning entries will be published in appropriate University publications and websites.

Organising Body

This competition is organised by The University of Ulster’s Forum for the Innovation in Teaching and Learning Support. The Judging team will include members of the Forum and the Students’ Union. The Forum will draw on the experiences presented in the submissions to guide the development of good practice in teaching and learning support across the University.

Application Form

Further competitions

If you have enjoyed entering this competition you may wish to consider other similar ones run nationally:

http://www.heacademy.ac.uk/ourwork/learning/studentessay