Empowering student agency in assessment and feedback in biological sciences

Engaging our students and supporting them to develop agency in assessment and feedback is important for driving effective self-regulation. It is well documented that assessment is one of the key drivers of student learning. However, assessment and feedback continue to burden the HE sector with low opinion from the student body.
We will showcase novel initiatives we have introduced in the School of Biological Sciences at the University of Bristol to improve student assessment literacy and engagement with feedback. We will introduce our ‘Assessment and Feedback Portfolio’ (AFP), an online set of tools including assessment landscapes and an interactive feedback engagement tool, to support student understanding and engagement with assessment and feedback. The AFP is supported by the ‘Feedback Café’, a regular drop-in stall run by lecturers and student partners. The Feedback Café provides students with an opportunity to discuss their feedback which enables better insight and understanding. Students can also discuss upcoming assessments with signposting to existing resources to support their development and allow implementation of lessons learned. Each initiative has been co-designed and evaluated by staff and student partners. We will present how we have embedded these initiatives within our programme and our findings from our evaluation into the student experience of these schemes. We will also share key steps on how you might include such initiatives into your
own programmes, and any lessons learned from our own experience.