During a Bachelor’s project process that stretches over four months and includes laboratory work, regular deadlines are set for the student’s written work. The student hands in a chapter from their Bachelor’s report every month to get a head start on the writing process. A structured feedback loop ensures timely feedback and helps hone the student’s written and academic competences.
Many students doing experimental Bachelor’s projects prioritise their laboratory work and leave the writing until the end of the process. This often results in a situation where they feel the pressure of impending deadlines and write a hurried report of low quality, despite the fact that they are evaluated on the basis of these reports. Because of this, it is necessary to motivate their academic writing process early on with regular deadlines and feedback.
This structure aims to:
improve the student’s writing process during their Bachelor’s project, and give them a feeling of ownership and self-confidence when writing their reports.
increase constructive alignment in the Bachelor's project process to ensure consistency between objectives, activities and assessment.
refine the student’s ability to give and receive peer feedback, as well as their ability to use Generative AI in their work.
CASE PROGRESSION | |||
| First Project Week | |||
Conversation - one to one | Initial supervisory meeting. During the first week of the project, students receive individual supervision to discuss and agree on the following:
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| Monthly Feedback Loop | |||
Individually | Monthly drafts. The project takes place over four months. In the last week of each month, the student must hand in a two- to three-page section of their own choosing from their report, e.g. the introduction, materials and method, results or discussion. | ||
Individually | 1st iteration - GenAI. The student is encouraged to use GenAI for feedback on the clarity and coherence of the writing in their report. | ||
In pairs | 2nd iteration - Peer feedback. The student receives peer feedback from a fellow student on the flow, structure, clarity and coherence of the section they have submitted. The student then reciprocates and gives peer feedback to their fellow student. | ||
Meeting - one to one | 3rd step - Supervisor guidance. The student sends the text to the supervisor, who responds with feedback both over email and in person. Feedback is given within a week.
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Repetition | Repetition. The process is repeated four times, with students giving and receiving peer feedback from the same peers throughout the project. | ||
My experience is that the process has been rewarding and engaging for the students, who have expressed greater confidence in their written academic work and enhanced writing skills.
The students reported that their feedback improved with every feedback loop and that they gradually began to consult each other rather than contacting me for help and sparring when they found the writing challenging.
I observed that the regular feedback led the students to reflect more on their own writing, resulting in a gradual increase in the quality of their written work.
The students also said that the regular deadlines were helpful, since it meant they worked on the written part of the project throughout the process instead of cramming it all into an intense writing period at the end. This led to reports of a higher quality and reduced the stress levels for both the students and me.
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