First year Humanities and Social Science students’ experiences of engaging with written feedback in a post- 1992 university This thesis examines students’ experiences of engaging with written formative feedback in a post-1992 university. A body of literature on ‘engagement with feedback’ in higher education presents the student as somehow lacking the motivation to engage with feedback. The principles of a feminist methodology were adopted in an attempt to present the underrepresented views of students on the issue of their engagement with feedback. Participants were from two first year undergraduate modules which provided formative feedback on assignments. Qualitative research methods were used: 24 semi-structured interviews, 50 reflective writing documents and 83 questionnaires were collated for open-ended responses and descriptive patterns. Following an analysis of this data, an innovative model was developed. The ‘Student perspective on engaging with feedback model’ was based on the three phases students moved through when engaging with feedback, which was influenced by the type and style of feedback they required at different stages of their transition. This transition involved a period of liminality (a state of betwixt and between) as individuals waited to go through a rite of passage, which often led to students finding themselves in ‘stuck places’ and experiencing feelings of ‘being wrong’. The model demonstrates how firstly, students used the feedback as a ‘sign’ to confirm their learner identities. Secondly, students used the feedback to improve. They valued a personalised dialogue to enable them to do this successfully. Thirdly, they focused on future-orientated feedback, relating to employability and grades. These findings provide the basis for recommendations to HE tutors suggesting that changes to assessment practices and feedback comments may be beneficial for first year undergraduates as they navigate their transition to learning in higher education. First year Humanities and Social Science students’ experiences of engaging with written feedback in a post- 1992 university This thesis examines students’ experiences of engaging with written formative feedback in a post-1992 university. A body of literature on ‘engagement with feedback’ in higher education presents the student as somehow lacking the motivation to engage with feedback. The principles of a feminist methodology were adopted in an attempt to present the underrepresented views of students on the issue of their engagement with feedback. Participants were from two first year undergraduate modules which provided formative feedback on assignments. Qualitative research methods were used: 24 semi-structured interviews, 50 reflective writing documents and 83 questionnaires were collated for open-ended responses and descriptive patterns. Following an analysis of this data, an innovative model was developed. The ‘Student perspective on engaging with feedback model’ was based on the three phases students moved through when engaging with feedback, which was influenced by the type and style of feedback they required at different stages of their transition. This transition involved a period of liminality (a state of betwixt and between) as individuals waited to go through a rite of passage, which often led to students finding themselves in ‘stuck places’ and experiencing feelings of ‘being wrong’. The model demonstrates how firstly, students used the feedback as a ‘sign’ to confirm their learner identities. Secondly, students used the feedback to improve. They valued a personalised dialogue to enable them to do this successfully. Thirdly, they focused on future-orientated feedback, relating to employability and grades. These findings provide the basis for recommendations to HE tutors suggesting that changes to assessment practices and feedback comments may be beneficial for first year undergraduates as they navigate their transition to learning in higher education. First year Humanities and Social Science students’ experiences of engaging with written feedback in a post- 1992 university This thesis examines students’ experiences of engaging with written formative feedback in a post-1992 university. A body of literature on ‘engagement with feedback’ in higher education presents the student as somehow lacking the motivation to engage with feedback. The principles of a feminist methodology were adopted in an attempt to present the underrepresented views of students on the issue of their engagement with feedback. Participants were from two first year undergraduate modules which provided formative feedback on assignments. Qualitative research methods were used: 24 semi-structured interviews, 50 reflective writing documents and 83 questionnaires were collated for open-ended responses and descriptive patterns. Following an analysis of this data, an innovative model was developed. The ‘Student perspective on engaging with feedback model’ was based on the three phases students moved through when engaging with feedback, which was influenced by the type and style of feedback they required at different stages of their transition. This transition involved a period of liminality (a state of betwixt and between) as individuals waited to go through a rite of passage, which often led to students finding themselves in ‘stuck places’ and experiencing feelings of ‘being wrong’. The model demonstrates how firstly, students used the feedback as a ‘sign’ to confirm their learner identities. Secondly, students used the feedback to improve. They valued a personalised dialogue to enable them to do this successfully. Thirdly, they focused on future-orientated feedback, relating to employability and grades. These findings provide the basis for recommendations to HE tutors suggesting that changes to assessment practices and feedback comments may be beneficial for first year undergraduates as they navigate their transition to learning in higher education.

Why this thesis is needed. This thesis is motivated by the falling school results of Swedish 15-year-olds, a lack of IT tools in Swedish schools and a call for turning the theory on formative assessment into practice. Previous research that is used in the thesis. This thesis mainly builds on the research done by John Hattie which is presented in his book Visible Learning from 2009, Wiliam & Thompson's research on effective formative assessment from 2007, Pachler et al. research on formative e-assessment from 2010 and Panadero & Jonsson's research on scoring rubrics from 2013. Research question. What key aspects should be taken into consideration when designing and implementing an IT tool based on scoring rubrics which aims to support formative assessment according to the key strategies for effective formative assessment as identified by Wiliam & Thompson (2007)? Method. To answer this question I chose a qualitative approach of parallel paper prototyping where I iteratively exposed the design and my ideas during focus groups to teachers, a headmaster, employees at The Swedish National Agency for Education and high school students, followed by an evaluation of the key topics that surfaced during the focus groups. Results. The results consist of eight key aspects to take into consideration when designing and implementing such a tool. Discussion and future research. Finally I discuss the implications of my findings and present directions for future research which include the construction of the tool, further investigation of the key aspects identified in this study, identification of additional key aspects and more. / Varför denna avhandling behövs. Denna avhandling motiveras av de fallande skolresultaten hos svenska 15-åringar, en brist på IT-verktyg i svenska skolor och ett rop efter att vända forskning inom formativ bedömning till praktik. Tidigare forskning som används. Denna avhandling bygger i huvudsak på forskningen av John Hattie som presenteras i hans bok Visible Learning från 2009, William & Thompsons forskning på effektiv formativ bedömning från 2007, Pachler et al. forskning på formativ e-bedömning från 2010 och Panadero & Jonssons forskning på betygsmatriser från 2013. Forskningsfråga. Vilka nyckelaspekter ska tas i åtanke vid utveckling av ett IT-verktyg baserat på betygsmatriser som stödjer formativ bedömning enligt de fem nyckelstrategierna för effektiv formativ bedömning som formulerats av Wiliam & Thompson (2007)? Metod. För att besvara denna fråga valdes en kvalitativ metod där parallell pappersprototypning användes under ett antal iterationer av fokusgrupper under vilka designen och tidigare diskussionpunkter diskuterades med lärare, en rektor, anställda vid Skolverket samt gymnasiestudenter. Fokusgrupperna följdes upp med en utvärdering av de största diskussionpunkterna som dök upp. Resultat. Resultaten består av åtta nyckelaspekter att ha i åtanke vid utveckling av ett sådant verktyg. Diskussion och framtida forskning. Slutligen diskuteras implikationerna av resultaten och direktioner för framtida forskning framförs. Dessa direktioner inkluderar utveckling av verktyget, vidare utredning av de nyckelaspekter som hittats i denna avhandling, identifikation av ytterligare nyckelaspekter och mer.

À travers la francophonie, l’évaluation formative est considérée par plusieurs chercheurs comme un facteur clé du développement de la compétence à communiquer oralement : elle favorise notamment la régulation des apprentissages (Colognesi, Vassart et al., 2020) et tend à diminuer le stress des apprenants à l’égard des présentations orales (Paquet, 2021). Pourtant, l’évaluation formative de l’oral est quasi absente des pratiques évaluatives des enseignants de français langue d’enseignement au niveau secondaire au Québec (Lafontaine et Messier, 2009; Vega, 2013). De plus, la coévaluation, moyen susceptible d’être mobilisé dans le cadre d’une évaluation formative de l’oral, semble méconnue des enseignants (Dumais, 2008; Sénéchal, 2012) et peu d’études ont été menées à son sujet. C’est pourquoi nos deux objectifs spécifiques sont les suivants : 1) mesurer des effets de la coévaluation formative sur le développement de la compétence à communiquer oralement d’élèves du secondaire; 2) décrire des raisons pouvant expliquer ces effets. Pour atteindre ces objectifs, nous avons réalisé une recherche par méthodes mixtes auprès de trois groupes-classes de première secondaire (élèves âgés de 12 et 13 ans). Une séquence d’enseignement a été mise en place, laquelle comprend l’ajout d’une coévaluation formative élève – élève dans le groupe expérimental 1 et d’une coévaluation formative enseignante – élève dans le groupe expérimental 2. Les données issues d’un prétest et un posttest ont fait l’objet de tests statistiques et les données découlant d'entrevues semi-dirigées ont été analysées à l’aide d’une analyse de contenu. En lien avec le premier objectif, les résultats saillants indiquent que les deux modalités de coévaluation expérimentées produisent un effet d’amélioration similaire. Concernant le deuxième objectif, la coévaluation élève – élève semble être un levier pour la motivation intrinsèque des élèves, les amenant à se sentir responsables de leurs apprentissages et à consacrer plus de temps à la préparation de leur exposé. La coévaluation enseignante – élève, pour sa part, favorise l’amélioration de la confiance en soi des apprenants, surtout lorsque ces derniers valorisent l’enseignante. Ces résultats offrent des pistes didactiques susceptibles de guider les enseignants dans la mise en place de leur propre démarche de coévaluation. / In francophone research areas, several researchers consider formative assessment to be a key factor in the development of oral communication skills. Most notably, it promotes self-regulated learning (Colognesi, Vassart, et al., 2020) and tends to reduce the stress associated with oral presentations in learners (Paquet, 2021). Despite this, formative oral assessment is nearly absent from the evaluation practices of French teachers in Quebec’s high schools (Lafontaine and Messier, 2009; Vega, 2013). Additionally, co-evaluation, an effective practice for formative oral assessment, seems to be unknown to most teachers (Dumais, 2008; Sénéchal, 2012) and few studies have been conducted on this matter. Therefore, our two specific objectives are: 1) to measure the effects of formative co-evaluation on the development of oral communications skills of high school students; 2) to describe possible reasons for these effects. To do so, we conducted a study based on a mixed methods research design among three groups of first-year high school students (12 to 13 years old). We created a teaching unit that included a student – student formative co-evaluation in experimental group 1 and a teacher – student formative co-evaluation in experimental group 2. Data collected from a pre-test and a post-test were statistically analyzed while data collected from semi-structured interviews were examined using a content analysis. With regards to the first objective, the main results indicate that the two methods of co-evaluation produce similar effects on improving oral communication skills. Concerning the second objective, student – student co-evaluation seems to promote intrinsic motivation which leads students to gain a sense of responsibility for their learning and spend more time getting ready for their presentation. Meanwhile, teacher – student co-evaluation helps improve self-confidence in learners, especially when the teacher is highly regarded by the students. These results offer various possible teaching avenues to guide teachers establishing their own co-evaluation procedure.

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