It wasn’t the usual Wednesday and Thursday lunchtime in the Coombs building (College of Asia and the Pacific). CLT Education Designers had planned some fun activities to introduce the concepts of effective feedback and rubric design, and they even had participants draw cats.
Cats, you say? How does drawing cats help you understand feedback principles and rubrics?
After distilling academic education research into basic principles, participants were invited to join several activities to solidify and apply theoretical concepts to their context. By putting themselves back in the role of a learner, participants experienced the nerves (and giggles) of receiving peer feedback on their drawings and self-evaluating using a rubric. Through this activity, participants reflected on their own feedback practices and rubric design, understanding why effective rubrics and feedback can significantly impact student learning.
The Department of Pacific Affairs boardroom was full of laughter, cheers, and excitement. Not only were the activities beneficial in helping to comprehend theory, but they also created a jovial environment where participants felt comfortable and safe to share and discuss ideas and experiences.
A quote from one of the participants – Dr Amanda H A Watson:
“I am very glad that I attended. I enjoyed it and I am confident that it will be useful. I found the presenters to be very encouraging.”
Dr Nicholas Hoare, who requested CLT support, shared his insights about the workshops:
“As a relatively new educator, providing effective feedback is always a challenge. Too much? Too little? Too harsh? Too easy? April and Marianne have helped by stripping things back to the core principles and providing our group with tips and tricks informed by the latest in education research.”
This workshop is intended to provide some inspiration for academics to consider within their context. If you want to learn more about the 7 feedback principles, refer to this blog. Our rubric resource will be published soon on our website.
Having designed these workshops for CAP, they are now ready to be showcased at more colleges. Would you like a lunchtime workshop on Feedback or Rubrics with your academic staff? Reach out to CLT to schedule a workshop: clt@anu.edu.au.
Marianne Mettes and April Chan, Education Designers, CLT
Dr Nicholas Hoare, Assistant Director of Studies in DPA
Photographs by Tangyao Zhang, Multimedia Producer, CLT
