Students' perceptions of assessment feedback in an undergraduate nursing and midwifery subject: a mixed-methods study.

Abstract

Background: In an undergraduate Bachelor of Nursing course, students enrol in an evidence-based Practice (EBP) subject. Three scaffolded tasks assess students' ability to find, summarise and synthesise professional literature. For each assessment task, students are provided feedback that informs subsequent assessments. It is unclear how students use the feedback, and what elements of feedback are perceived as being most useful.

Aim: This study aimed to examine nursing students' perspectives of receiving feedback from scaffolded assessments and how feedback received influenced the development of the final assessment task.

Design: A mixed-methods approach was used with a cross-sectional survey and online qualitative interviews.

Setting: This research was conducted at Deakin University, School of Nursing and Midwifery in Melbourne, Australia.

Participants: One hundred forty-eight students (17.4%, n = 851) participated in the cross-sectional survey. Seven students participated in the online qualitative interviews.

Methods: Students enrolled in the EBP subject in Trimester, 2023 were invited to participate in a survey where they rated their experience of assessment feedback using a Likert scale. Students were also invited to participate in an online qualitative interview that further explored their perceptions.

Results: Assessment exemplars were highly beneficial to understanding the assessment task (87.8% agree/strongly agree, n = 107). Responding to feedback was challenging (38.5%, n = 47). Qualitative themes identified were engagement with assessments, appropriateness of feedback, and use of scaffolded feedback.

Conclusions: This study highlights that scaffolded feedback is valuable for student learning. Feedback in each rubric criterion helps with the alignment of learning outcomes. Resources that support students in how to respond to feedback are important.