Healthcare students' perceptions of electronic feedback through grademark®

Abstract

This paper reports on the findings from a study undertaken to explore students' perceptions of the timeliness, accessibility, consistency, and quality of feedback and grading received electronically. The system used was GradeMark®, an electronic tool available through the plagiarism software provider, Turnitin®. 296 students from the Schools of Nursing and Midwifery, Medicine, and Dentistry at Cardiff University were included in the study. Data collection included an online survey and a focus group for each discipline. Findings revealed that the use of GradeMark® im-proved the timeliness and accessibility of feedback due to its immediate availability via any per-sonal computer with internet access. The use of annotation was proven to be valuable; however consistency and quality of feedback were affected by markers' individual comments, issues which GradeMark® may not necessarily address. Findings provide insight into what quality feed-back could look like from the students' perspective, which can help improve academic practice. Overall the study outcomes suggest there are benefits to using innovative technology such as GradeMark® to enhance learning. The paper provides valuable lessons that could assist others in adopting a pragmatic and planned ap-proach to the introduction of electronic feedback using a system such as GradeMark®.