"EAVESDROPPING" can it add to a student's learning by allowing them to witness his or her own Summative assessment and feedback event?

Abstract

The Design Studio learning system within most Tertiary Design Schools has a unique critique method, often called "The Crit;" this event itself has been analyzed and written about extensively. However, we have also had a lot of negative feedback from students that this form of critiquing process is not necessarily a good type of feedback process'for them individually, particularly in relation to their specific piece of work. Therefore, is there a method that protects the student's privacy related to his or her own design work and at the same time maintains the Design School's integrity of supplying reasoned and fair assessment within the wider Profession? A field trial scenario was designed and arranged with a group of volunteer design students, so each in turn, could sit-in and witness their own assessment / feedback session. The students were allowed to "eavesdrop," i.e. allowed to watch and overhear only, their individual feedback and assessment. This paper reports on this field trial, (which was timed to occur just after the "The Crit"); the resulting student comments were surprisingly positive towards this experiment and affirming that indeed it was an aid to their overall learning. This paper also analyses this experiment, exploring the field trial responses, and looks for links within a wider Educational literature base to the ground this "Eavesdropping" scenario within known pedagogies. Note: This scenario is not proposing to supplant "The Crit" rather, the interftion being an addition to it.