University of Southampton

Developing resources for improving the quality of feedback at the University of Southampton 

As part of a European-funded project called ‘Sharing Practice in Enhancing and Assuring Quality‘ (SPEAQ) project, we have been working with 9 partners in European HEIs to develop initiatives to improve quality practice and culture within HE institutions. We are currently in the final phase of the project which is concerned with developing small-scale projects to address issues raised in the first phase of the project by students, academic staff and quality staff. Here at Southampton we are developing informative resources which can be delivered online and in workshop format which approach issues of feedback in practical, clear and meaningful ways illustrated with real examples.

We will:

• Examine current methods for giving and receiving student feedback at the university (illustrated by case studies of what is already being done successfully by some teachers, quality managers and students);

• Provide activities which encourage reflection on how staff and students can improve the ways in which feedback is delivered, received, and reported;

• Provide clear explanations of quality assurance processes and mechanisms at the University and how these relate to the feedback given and received by student.

GMOOF Staff

John Canning

John studied geography at the universities of Aberystwyth and Bristol. His PhD thesis examined nationalism and identity in rural Quebec and he came to LLAS in 2003 to manage the interdisciplinary area studies project. He has led projects in various areas including employability, entrepreneurship, sustainable development, the National Student Survey and Islamic Studies. He also led the organisation of the 2012 LLAS Higher Education conference and organises the annual workshop for heads of department. He now oversees the higher education work of LLAS and is writing an introductory book on statistics for humanities students (funded by the British Academy).

In the Faculty of Humanities John also teaches research skills to doctoral students and contributes to an interdisciplinary sustainable development module for undergraduates. You can follow John on twitter at @johngcanning

Laurence Georgin

After finishing her MA in English language at the University of Nancy, France in 2002, Laurence has worked in a variety of environments including customer relations, project management and Higher Education management. She currently coordinates LLAS development which includes enterprise, marketing and project management. She has also recently started a PhD on women explorers in the Canadian North at the beginning of the 20th century. You can follow Laurence on twitter at @laurencegeorgin

Alison Dickens

Alison did her first degree in Comparative Literature and French (with Spanish and Film Studies) at the University of East Anglia. She is also is a qualified and experienced language teacher with a PGCE from the University of Reading and has an MA in media and language teaching from the University of Brighton. She is currently senior manager of a team of education developers providing training and support to higher education staff in languages, linguistics and area studies disciplines. She has a proven track record of bidding for and delivering a range of externally funded projects at UK and EU level and fostering innovation in the development and delivery of technology enhanced learning. She is director of the SPEAQ project of which GMOOF is a small part.