Feedback on work

Overview and research

One of the most common complaints that candidates make regarding their research experience is the lack of timely feedback on progress. It is clear that there are different approaches to giving feedback, often influenced by the discipline. For example, HDR candidates from a Science discipline, when interviewed, commented that much of their feedback came from their supervisors through informal discussions, often 'on the run'. On the other hand, students in a social sciences discipline commented that they mainly received feedback on progress through written comment on written work.

The main criticism from candidates tends to be the lack of timely feedback on written work, which in some case might be the result of unrealistic expectations. It is probably worth spending time early in candidature helping candidates to appreciate the need to contact supervisors in advance of major work being submitted to ensure that they can take into account the supervisors other commitments.

Kumar & Stracke (2006) suggest that while candidates might view feedback as 'error correction' supervisors generally see it as a teaching/learning process, hence supervisors might need to encourage their students to view feedback in this more active and positive way. While there are a number of ways of providing feedback to candidates on their written work the authors suggest that there are three main forms of feedback on written work:

Referential i.e. editorial, organisational and content comments
Directive i.e. suggestions for change, questions regarding change and then instructions re change
Expressive i.e. praise, criticism and opinion

It is possible that in any one experience of feedback all of these forms might be included.

Feedback on progress (of the candidature and the research) can be gained by candidates in many ways e.g.:

written comments by supervisors on submitted work
oral comments from supervisors 'in the corridor' or during regular meetings
formal Annual Progress Reports and Reviews
questions and comments from seminar participants
comments from reviewers on manuscripts submitted for publication.

Hence, experienced supervisors find that they can share the work of feedback by encouraging their students to present at local, national and international conferences and submitting manuscripts for peer review. (See an entertaining insight into assisting a candidate prepare for conference presentation at PhD Comics)

Publishing during candidature can be very helpful to students in three particular ways:

they develop the skills necessary for publication
they gain explicit and generally very helpful feedback on their work (See Addressing Review Comments)
examiners, particularly those in the science/engineering disciplines, view publication during candidature very positively when making their decision regarding the thesis.

Supervisors often find that candidates gain considerable insight to their work when told by others!

The above text was based on the following research:

Kiley M. (1996) How do I know how I am going? Assessment in postgraduate research degrees. Paper presented at the conference Quality in Postgraduate Research: Is it happening? 18-19 April 1996 Adelaide.

Kumar, V., & Stracke, E. (2007). An analysis of written feedback on a PhD draft. Teaching in Higher Education, 12 (4),

Mullins, G. and Kiley, M. (2002) It's a PhD, not a Nobel prize: How experienced examiners assess theses, Studies in Higher Education, 27, 4.

Ideas and tools

Practitioner Tip: Emailing chapters beforehand

Piera Carroli, School of Languages

One simple strategy to avoid confusion is to ask students to email or send their writing e.g. draft chapter, review of an article, summary of a seminar etc a week before meeting them. I encourage students to write in full text form rather than note form so that they gain practice in the sort of writing they will be undertaking in their dissertation. Plus I suggest to them that this can become part of a larger piece of writing. Since my handwriting is terrible and in my experience as student I have had to ask my supervisors to read their "to me unreadable" comments, I place all my comments on the side of their chapters using the editing tools, especially "Insert Comment". I try to return their chapters a few days before we meet so students have a chance to read them and think of how to address them and / or prepare them selves to discuss their point of view vis-à-vis mine. This strategy works very well with students of most ages who work mainly at home whether part-time of full-time. (It could perhaps create anxiety with very mature age students unfamiliar with email and editing tools and / or students who have trouble writing initial drafts in chapter form, in a second language.)

The above text was based on the following research:

Wisker, G. (2005) The good supervisor: Supervising postgraduate and undergraduate research for doctoral theses and dissertations. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillian

Helping candidates with presentation skills

Many students need help in preparing for such a presentation, for example:

assisting with developing a structure for the presentation
calming nerves
ensuring that the research can be adequately presented within the allocated time
suggestions for ways of responding to 'difficult' questions.

ANU information

The Academic Skills and Learning Centre has a staff member specialising in research student assistance.

The Graduate Information Literacy Program has courses which are particularly helpful to candidates regarding presentation skills.

For College-specific information contact:

Currently ANU colleges are compiling information for providing feedback to students. In the meantime, contact the College Associate Dean (HDR) for more general college information.