‘Additional Comments’: The Final Word in Assessment for Humanities Undergraduates

• Main Author: Despina Michael
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Georgia Southern University 2009-01-01
• Series: International Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning
• Subjects: Assessment; Feedback; Additional comments; Constructive criticism; Dialogue
• Online Access: https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/ij-sotl/vol3/iss1/31

A key component to the scholarship of teaching and learning (SOTL) is reflection on teaching methodology and, in particular, assessment practices and how they impact on undergraduate students. The aim of this article is to explore how one particular technique—the written expression of ‘additional comments’ in a generic assessment criteria-based form—can be utilised effectively as a means of clear, constructive feedback and simultaneously as a means of engagement in dialogue with students. Dialogue is, in fact, postulated as one of the most important pedagogical tools underpinning and informing deep learning. Understanding how our words leave an impact on our students may open up other avenues of research into the whole human dynamic at the heart of all education.