‘Testing, testing...’

Abstract

This article reports on a small-scale study of feedback on music students’ written work, in which staff and students were asked to evaluate existing practice and suggest potential modifications. The value of feedback as a communicative learning tool is illustrated through students’ participation in a range of research tasks, including rating the usefulness of existing feedback comments and attempting to generate their own. The study shows that challenges in developing practice apply even where changes sought are far from radical, and conclusions are drawn which suggest ways forward for practice and research in giving feedback.