International Journal of Innovation in Science and Mathematics Education, 21(3), 60-74, 2013 60 Facilitating Timely Feedback in the Biomedical Sciences Kay Colthorpe a , Shaohong Liang b and Kirsten Zimbardi a Corresponding author: Kay Colthorpe (k.colthorpe@uq.edu.au) a School of Biomedical Sciences, The University of Queensland, Brisbane QLD 4072, Australia b School of Population Health, The University of Queensland, Brisbane QLD 4006, Australia Keywords: feedback; allied health science; biomedical science International Journal of Innovation in Science and Mathematics Education, 21(3), 60-74, 2013 Abstract Feedback is one of the most influential factors on student learning gains (Hattie & Timperley 2007). However, studies also show that when students do receive feedback it is often too brief, too broadly stated, and is often misinterpreted by students (Nicol & Macfarlane-Dick, 2006; Stern & Solomon, 2006). Furthermore, evaluating the actual extent to which students engage with and utilise feedback is difficult. This study evaluated a method of providing detailed, specific and timely feedback to allied health science students studying biomedical sciences in large class settings at a higher education institution in Australia. We investigated the extent and quality of feedback provided through analysis of annotated drafts, and examined how students interpreted and used the feedback received, by identifying how student work was modified in response to each item of feedback. This study has demonstrated that for feedback to elicit positive changes in student writing it must be specific, detailed and directed. The results indicate that the majority of the feedback given in the assignments analysed had a positive effect on subsequent student work, but also highlights that student responses to feedback can differ based on the type of feedback that is given. Introduction Assessment reforms in higher education recognise the need for effective feedback that is timely, informative, and encourages positive attitudes towards future learning amongst students (Boud et al, 2010). It is well established that feedback to students is one of the educational practices with some of the largest positive impacts on student learning (Hattie & Timperley, 2007), However, studies also show that when students do receive feedback it is often too brief, and too broadly stated, and is often misinterpreted by students (Nicol & Macfarlane-Dick, 2006; Stern & Solomon, 2006). Furthermore, evaluating the actual extent to which students engage with and utilise feedback is difficult. Generally, academics recognise the value of formative feedback but often lack information on what are the most effective feedback practices, resulting in the provision of feedback which is inefficient, creates confusion and commonly communicates incorrect or unrealistic expectations to students (Stern & Solomon, 2006; Underwood, 2008). Overall, academics typically do not give positive feedback, address students' weaknesses and strengths, or provide comments which encourage critical thinking in students, but rather focus on ‘surface- level’ feedback such as correcting simple technical writing errors (Stern & Solomon, 2006; Underwood, 2008; Turnitin, 2012).