Screencasting, a tool to facilitate engagement with formative feedback?

The feedback that students receive on their work is a problematic area in Higher Education. Lecturers are concerned by a lack of student engagement with feedback, and students report a lack of feedback being provided, a lack of clarity in the feedback, or being provided too late to apply. It is widely agreed though that feedback can narrow the gap between current and desired performance, and can contribute in a positive manner to the student learning experience.

This small scale mixed methods study, using an online questionnaire and focus group seeks to evaluate screencasting as a means of enhancing the formative assessment process for students, and to develop guidelines for practitioners wishing to adopt its use. The study is based on formative feedback provided to second year students on a multi stage assessment at a Higher Education Institution in the Republic of Ireland. Key authors on the scholarship of feedback have been consulted in the design of the intervention.

Data analysis indicates that students engage with screencast feedback in a number of ways. Students watch the screencast feedback multiple times. They can pause and rewind if necessary, apply the suggestions for improvement from the lecturer, and they can access it anywhere that has an internet connection.

Screencasting is an effective medium to communicate formative feedback but it is only as good as the message contained within it. This study will contribute to the development of best practice by suggesting a framework for audio-visual feedback; which will have a wide application that is not limited to e-portfolios.