To properly consider assessment and feedback, it is helpful to recall the purpose of SLICCs. SLICCs allow students to take ownership of their learning by giving them the opportunity to plan for and undertake an experience of their choosing. In doing so, they will be immersed in an experience similar to that which they will be expected to manage and navigate when they graduate, i.e., one that is part of an inherently volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous (VUCA) process. They will face challenges and make mistakes and, initially, most students will find the process confusing, complex, and difficult. The SLICC model helps students seek clarity about what their role is, which is to decide for themselves what to learn, how, and why. It helps them to experience this uncertainty while having you, as the instructor, available to put any necessary “guard rails” in place during the process. SLICCs help students become more effective and more confident self-regulated and self-directed learners.

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Assessment, therefore, may focus more on the student’s growth and development rather than on proficiency. During the assessment process, keep in mind both the course level and the student’s level, and adjust your expectations accordingly!

Providing Feedback on the Proposal

Proposals will not be perfect, and the progress of the plan and experience will be unpredictable. Provide feedback on the proposal by thinking about questions such as

• Is the proposal viable?
• Is the timeline realistic?
• Has the student explained and contextualized each Learning Outcome to their project/experience?
• Will the student be able to achieve the Learning Outcomes through the proposed project?
• Will the scope of the project allow the student to develop and learn transferable skills and develop their capacity for self-directed/self-regulated learning?
• Has the student outlined how they will adopt a reflective practice while undertaking the experience?
• Does the student demonstrate an understanding of the significance of providing evidence to show how the reflections on their experiences throughout their project connect to one or more of the Learning Outcomes?

The SLICC Proposal Feedback Guide (a component of the Instructor SLICC Resource Pack) provides instructors with guidance as they provide feedback on proposals.

To see exemplar proposals with feedback, view Proposal Examples(a component of the Student SLICC Resource Pack)

There are many ways to provide feedback on the proposals. Here are some examples:

• Rubric — see this Rubric for Self-Assessment (DOC) template from the University of Edinburgh;
• Peer Feedback.

Have students pitch their proposals to their classmates asking for specific feedback on certain aspects of their proposal. This helps focus their classmates’ attention, so that they are reviewing their peer’s proposal with a purpose. This helps them provide constructive, meaningful, and actionable feedback. The student can evaluate and act on the feedback to improve their proposal.

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Peer review can benefit not only the person receiving the feedback, but also the peers providing the feedback, i.e., while providing feedback, peers, having seen a number of other proposals, are also thinking of how they can improve their own proposals. Each student can use the peer feedback to improve their own proposal submission. Here are some resources for peer feedback:

• Watch this video: Thoughts on Reflecting in Community(1:51 min), Centre for Teaching Excellence;
• Provide a feedback template that will help students give constructive feedback to their peers — an example of this is HLTH 602B – Peer Review Feedback Template(PDF).

Providing Feedback on Reflections

Example Blogs (a component of the Instructor SLICC Resource Pack) provide you with guidance to review your students’ reflections.

We also recommend you review the section Assessing Reflection from the University of Edinburgh’s comprehensive Reflection Toolkit, for more advice on assessments.

Providing Feedback on the Interim Report

Feedback should focus on what the student should do to move forward on their SLICC project. Students should be referring to the adapted/contextualized Learning Outcomes in their proposal and providing evidence from their reflections to document their progress on each Learning Outcome. The Interim Reflective Report should focus on the student’s personal and professional growth and development during the learning experience, i.e., it should focus on process over outcome.

Provide a rubric and have students use this rubric to self-evaluate and provide justification for their evaluation. A conversation comparing the instructor’s feedback and the student’s self-evaluation can help students better understand expectations and improve for the final reflective report submission.

Interim Reflective Report Examples (a component of the Student SLICC Resource Pack) provides extracts of of Interim Reflective Reports with feedback.

Interim Reflective Reports (a component of the Instructor SLICC Resource Pack) provides you with guidance on how to provide feedback on the Interim Reports.

Giving effective feedback is essential for student success in the SLICCs model. Students have reported that instructor feedback is the most helpful form of feedback. Effective feedback is:

• Actionable — Ask yourself, is the feedback specific and goal-oriented? Is it realistic that the student will be able to implement it in the available timeframe with the available tools?
• Encouraging — Ask yourself, is the feedback acknowledging areas to celebrate along with areas for improvement? Give clear and focused feedback on how students can improve their work, including signposting the most important areas to address (what was good; what could be improved; and most importantly, how to improve). Too much focus on areas to change without any acknowledgment of areas to celebrate can be daunting and hinder progression.

Here are some great resources to help you navigate the feedback process:

• Feedback for Learning: Closing the Assessment Loop(44:26 min) — Collaborators from Monash University, Deakin University, and The University of Melbourne share the details of a study about what constitutes effective feedback.
• The Instructors EAT (Equity/Agency/Transparency) Framework – Carol Evans, Griffith University Australia, highlights the role of effective feedback in assessment.
• Receiving and Giving Effective Feedback – University of Waterloo’s Centre for Teaching Excellence (CTE) provides useful advice on giving effective feedback and enabling the uptake of feedback.
• Giving actionable feedback needs actionable words — Dawn Sillet, a trainer, coach, and facilitator, discusses the importance of action language.

Grading the Final Project

There are a number of ways to assign a numerical course grade. Here are some examples adopted by instructors at the University of Waterloo:

• Specifications Grading used in SVENT 325 (DOC);
• Self- grading with the Likert scale, used in PSCI 494 (DOC) — note how the instructor has divided the grade between the reflective component and the final product;
• Student Performance Evaluation(PDF) (UWaterloo|Co-operative Education).

Rubrics

Here are some examples of grading rubrics:

• Value Rubrics — Integrative and Applied Learning(AACU);
• University of Edinburgh’s grading rubric — Learning Outcomes and Assessment.