Student Perceptions and Preferences for Feedback

Provision of effective and high quality feedback has been identified as a key element of quality teaching. Despite its importance this area has been neglected in research to date; in particular research on student experiences of feedback. In a previous study Rowe and Wood (2008) invited economic and finance students (both undergraduate and postgraduate) to attend focus groups and individual interviews. In line with previous research the authors found that students valued feedback, and were aware of its importance to achieving learning outcomes. The aim of the present study is to extend the findings of the previous qualitative study with quantitative data. A survey was developed from themes identified in the focus groups and was distributed to a large cohort of students at Macquarie University and Canberra University. Some preliminary results are provided.