{"id":1486,"date":"2025-04-03T12:43:02","date_gmt":"2025-04-03T11:43:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/?p=1486"},"modified":"2025-04-04T14:36:22","modified_gmt":"2025-04-04T13:36:22","slug":"using-feedback-to-improve-future-assignments","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/2025\/04\/03\/using-feedback-to-improve-future-assignments\/","title":{"rendered":"Using feedback to improve future assignments"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>No-one is born knowing how to produce perfect academic writing. However, we can all improve, and the main way we do this is through responding to feedback.<\/p>\n<p>Feedback is information about what you did well and what you still need to improve on.<\/p>\n<p>It can be written or spoken and come from\u00a0fellow students, yourself, or a tutor.<\/p>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<h2><strong>Understanding feedback<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>It\u2019s important to understand feedback before you can act on it and understanding grading criteria really helps with this.<\/p>\n<p>Grading criteria contain descriptions of good (and not so good) work according to a range of categories and tutors use these to decide what was strong in your work and what needs improvement.<\/p>\n<p>Here are some common areas found in grading criteria. It\u2019s important to be familiar with these. (Don't forget, you can <a href=\"https:\/\/unihub.bath.ac.uk\/s\/myskills\/infopages\/detail\/154\">book a 1:1 tutorial with us via MySkills<\/a> if you're unsure and would like to go through this with a tutor in more detail.)<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Language accuracy<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>How much your writing conforms to grammatical rules and the appropriate use of vocabulary.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Coherence<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>How clear the writing is because the ideas are in an order useful to a reader.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Cohesion<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>How clear you make the connections between ideas, for example by using linking words like <em>however<\/em>.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Critical thinking<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Your ability to judge how well experts\u2019 claims are supported by evidence and to provide strong evidence for your own claims.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Use of sources<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>How well you have used information from sources either to help explain ideas or to help support your arguments, whilst ensuring you cite and paraphrase correctly to avoid the risk of plagiarism.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Mechanics<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Accuracy of spelling, punctuation, formatting and so on.<\/p>\n<h3>If feedback is unclear:<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>Check with the person who gave the feedback.<\/li>\n<li>Ask a fellow student.<\/li>\n<li>Check against online resources.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/unihub.bath.ac.uk\/s\/myskills\/infopages\/detail\/154\">Book a writing tutorial<\/a> with the Skills Centre through MySkills.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><strong>How you feel about feedback<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>No matter how useful a bit of feedback is, it\u2019s no use at all if you can\u2019t face hearing it\u2026 but remember that even the best writers can improve: no one is above getting feedback!<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Being critical about feedback<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>It can be a useful exercise to question the feedback you get. For example, if you get advice from another student, you may think it sounds wrong. If so, then check.<\/p>\n<p>If they turn out to be right, you get a useful correction; if they\u2019re wrong, at least you know what\u2019s what for sure now.<\/p>\n<p>Just make sure you\u2019re not being overly defensive to save your feelings!<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Recording feedback<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Most, if not all, of the feedback you get will be written but if feedback is spoken only, make a note of it.<\/p>\n<p>Look for patterns of error in the feedback. Has a particular type of error been pointed out more than once? If so, then this is something you should consider working on as a priority, especially if it occurs across more than one piece.<\/p>\n<p>We are now talking about improving you as a writer (as opposed to just improving individual pieces of writing).<\/p>\n<p>You may find it useful to make a note of such patterns in one of the following ways:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>An e-portfolio site such as <a href=\"https:\/\/mahara.org\/\">Mahara.<\/a><\/li>\n<li>A physical folder or notebook.<\/li>\n<li>A digital notebook\u200b e.g. <a href=\"http:\/\/www.onenote.com\">Microsoft OneNote.<\/a><\/li>\n<li>A folder on your computer\u200b.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><\/h2>\n<h2><strong>\u00a0To sum up:<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Understand what feedback in general is about (for example, coherence).<\/li>\n<li>Check if you don\u2019t understand any comments.<\/li>\n<li>Remember that feedback benefits you, so don\u2019t be disheartened!<\/li>\n<li>Question feedback.<\/li>\n<li>Record feedback and look for patterns.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>No-one is born knowing how to produce perfect academic writing. However, we can all improve, and the main way we do this is through responding to feedback. Feedback is information about what you did well and what you still need...<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1963,"featured_media":1517,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[91,90,14,56],"tags":[150,195,302],"class_list":["post-1486","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-academic-skills","category-academic-writing","category-essay-writing","category-feedback","tag-academic-style","tag-revision-techniques","tag-skills-enhancement"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/84\/2025\/02\/Blog-post-images-4.png","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":984,"url":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/2023\/03\/06\/why-is-feedback-important\/","url_meta":{"origin":1486,"position":0},"title":"What I learnt from a skills enrichment workshop on feedback","author":"Helena Beavis","date":"March 6, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"If your course is largely essay-based (like mine is with Politics and International Relations) you\u2019ll understand the frustration of receiving the same feedback on your assignments \u2013 over and over and over again. \u201cBe more critical\u201d has got to be a favourite of all academic staff! When I saw the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Academic skills&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Academic skills","link":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/category\/academic-skills\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Three emojis on a desk: a yellow neutral face, a red smiley face and a blue unhappy face.","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/84\/2023\/03\/feedback.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/84\/2023\/03\/feedback.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/84\/2023\/03\/feedback.png?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/84\/2023\/03\/feedback.png?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1108,"url":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/2023\/10\/04\/meet-the-skills-enrichment-team\/","url_meta":{"origin":1486,"position":1},"title":"Meet the skills enrichment team","author":"Kerry Vevers","date":"October 4, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"As the Skills Centre\u2019s programme of academic and employability skills workshops gets underway, we introduce our friendly team of teachers, dedicated to sharing their expertise to help enrich your academic journey at Bath, and share some of their academic skills top tips. \u00a0 Justin\u00a0 I\u2019ve been teaching academic skills at\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Academic skills&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Academic skills","link":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/category\/academic-skills\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Students sitting in a lecture theatre at the University of Bath, listening to a lecture.","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/84\/2023\/10\/skills_enrichment_800x450.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/84\/2023\/10\/skills_enrichment_800x450.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/84\/2023\/10\/skills_enrichment_800x450.png?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/84\/2023\/10\/skills_enrichment_800x450.png?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1125,"url":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/2023\/11\/29\/how-skills-enrichment-workshops-have-helped-me-improve-my-work\/","url_meta":{"origin":1486,"position":2},"title":"How skills enrichment workshops have helped me improve my work","author":"Kerry Vevers","date":"November 29, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Third year BSc Biomedical Sciences student Sophie Benton tells us how skills enrichment workshops have increased her confidence with academic writing. Which skills workshops have you attended? I\u2019ve been to a range of skill sessions which have focused on different key assessment-based skills such as how to write an essay.\u00a0\u00a0\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Academic skills&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Academic skills","link":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/category\/academic-skills\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Sophie Benton at the Roman baths in Bath.","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/84\/2023\/10\/sophie-benton.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/84\/2023\/10\/sophie-benton.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/84\/2023\/10\/sophie-benton.png?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/84\/2023\/10\/sophie-benton.png?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":283,"url":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/2020\/03\/26\/what-does-your-feedback-mean-3\/","url_meta":{"origin":1486,"position":3},"title":"What does your feedback mean?","author":"Kevin Renfrew","date":"March 26, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Very often at this time of year students receive feedback on what they have written, and can be puzzled by what some of the comments mean. Here are some of the most common feedback phrases, and what they mean. \u201cMore analysis needed\u201d This is very common, and suggests that you\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Academic skills&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Academic skills","link":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/category\/academic-skills\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/84\/2019\/04\/board-3700116_1920.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/84\/2019\/04\/board-3700116_1920.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/84\/2019\/04\/board-3700116_1920.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/84\/2019\/04\/board-3700116_1920.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/84\/2019\/04\/board-3700116_1920.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/84\/2019\/04\/board-3700116_1920.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1839,"url":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/2026\/05\/13\/the-moodle-feedback-centre-how-it-can-help-you-progress\/","url_meta":{"origin":1486,"position":4},"title":"The Moodle feedback centre: How it can help you progress","author":"Amy Ridgway","date":"May 13, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"Hi there, my name is Amy and I am a skills co-creator. Since starting this role two months ago I have been working on a variety of projects, including creating and reviewing resources. I am particularly interested in academic skills and an important academic skill is utilising feedback effectively. \u00a0I\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Academic skills&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Academic skills","link":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/category\/academic-skills\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"A hexagon with an icon representing adaptability","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/84\/2026\/04\/Adaptability.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/84\/2026\/04\/Adaptability.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/84\/2026\/04\/Adaptability.png?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/84\/2026\/04\/Adaptability.png?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1106,"url":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/2023\/10\/04\/five-great-reasons-to-attend-a-skills-enrichment-workshop-this-year\/","url_meta":{"origin":1486,"position":5},"title":"Five great reasons to attend a skills enrichment workshop this year","author":"Kerry Vevers","date":"October 4, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"A common phrase we hear from students in the Skills Centre is: \u201cYour support has been so useful \u2013 I wish I\u2019d known about it sooner!\u201d Malcolm Skene, Digital & Academic Skills Course Leader, introduces the skills enrichment programme and how the workshops help students at all levels to get\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Academic skills&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Academic skills","link":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/category\/academic-skills\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"A group of students sitting in a lecture theatre.","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/84\/2023\/10\/lecture_theatre_800x450.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/84\/2023\/10\/lecture_theatre_800x450.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/84\/2023\/10\/lecture_theatre_800x450.png?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/84\/2023\/10\/lecture_theatre_800x450.png?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1486","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1963"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1486"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1486\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1517"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1486"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1486"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1486"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}