Feedback and Assignment Help

Descriptive transcript

Hi guys! Welcome back to the UTS Student Hacks. Today we'll be talking about feedback and assignment help. I'm Roxanne. I'm in my fourth year of Medical Science and International Studies, majoring in Japan. And here we also have—

Kelly! I'm also in my fourth year of Law and Business, majoring in Accounting.

This podcast is also joined by Lissy Hartmann, who is the Learning Technologies Implementation Officer from the Institute for Interactive Media and Learning at the UTS LX Lab.

Before we get right into it, get some water, fruit and snacks to relax yourself and make yourself feel comfortable.

So, about feedback and assignment help—this is something that I would have really liked to know, especially in my first year, and how to actually approach my assignments correctly using the feedback that I get from my tutors and lecturers and using it effectively.

One of the services that I used in my first year was HELPS. HELPS is a really good UTS resource which can help you with assignment help, as well as providing the service of U:PASS.

U:PASS is another division of HELPS that focuses on providing extra help on first-year subjects and to really get you on track with learning how to make your notes correctly and develop good study habits.

Roxanne, did you use HELPS before?

I did. I used HELPS back in my first year for U:PASS because during first year, it's a very big difference from high school to uni.

So when exam season came up, I definitely attended a lot of U:PASS sessions, met other students in the same subject, and also, if I had any questions that I wanted to ask, it felt more like a comfortable atmosphere because it was like talking to another student.

So it's much more comfortable to ask them, like, "Hey, I really don't get this," and you don't feel shy.

I also became a HELPS buddy. This buddy program is for students—domestic and international—to have a way to communicate with each other.

And if you have someone that speaks a certain language—because I majored in Japan—I met up with a couple of Japanese students to help with that language exchange. So they would help me with my Japanese and I would help them with their English.

Do you still keep in contact with those Japanese students?

I do with one, but generally a lot of Japanese students don't use Facebook, and I don't use LINE. So, yeah, we haven't communicated in a while, but I wonder how they're going.

What about you, Kelly?

Besides HELPS, I now use Grammarly, because as a UTS student, you get the premium version for free.

Oh, really?

Yeah. I typically use it to do a final check on an assignment to make sure my grammar is correct, I don't have commas in weird areas, and my sentences aren't too convoluted—things like that.

I definitely use Grammarly a lot, especially when writing a big essay that's like 2,000 words or something. You can easily miss the minor details or how it sounds after you've been working on it for hours. So I think it's definitely good.

Did you find out through the UTS library page?

Yeah, I found out through UTS Library and my friends, who actually found out that we could use the premium version. I gave it a go and it was really good because you can just upload a document and it will determine whether or not you've written it in academic writing style or addressed your audience correctly.

Sometimes when I have friends in the same degree subjects I'm close with, I would ask them to proofread some of my essays or scientific reports.

Generally, I remember for Medical Science, the society would host study sessions where they provide textbooks for certain subjects, and with other students who study Medical Science and similar degrees, they would help me out with assignments.

Some other societies would hold study spaces two weeks before exam season, so members would come into the room every day in the two weeks prior to exams and study together. Usually, we would bond over just eating out together, trying to study, and catching up.

What about you, Kelly? Do you have anything similar?

Not quite. I just used U:PASS a lot in my first year because the subjects I went to for U:PASS had revision sessions during the final STUVAC, where they literally go through all the content that might be covered in the final exam and give you problem questions, which I really liked. It was a very valuable resource that I cherish to this day.

I know there are other resources that UTS has, such as MSSC, which is the Mathematics and Science Study Centre. I haven't personally used it a lot because my degree doesn't really require high-level maths or science.

I've heard from a lot of students with a science or mathematics background that they use this service quite a bit. It has really helped them understand the content more because they're able to go into more depth.

Your lecturers and tutors are also a great place to go for help—they're the ones writing your exams and marking your work, so it's always good to go to them for help and for feedback.

On that note, if you know that you are not able to complete an assignment in time, consider requesting an extension or applying for special consideration.

Did you ever apply for an extension or special consideration when you had an assignment?

I had to once, because there was a group project that I did and one of the students dropped out near the deadline.

So I asked my tutor for an extension just in case, because we were right on track with doing the work and everything, but just in case we needed extra time. I asked the tutor and they were like, "Yeah, it's fine." But luckily, we did it by the deadline.

But it's always good to ask to make sure the tutor knows your circumstances are slightly different to other groups, so that would warrant extra time for you. It's always good to ask in advance.

Have you?

I think I've always been afraid to ask, just because it does feel a bit intimidating to send that email and be like, "Oh, can I have more time?" But I know it's more beneficial for me.

So after first year and second year, I try to reach out whenever I feel like I have too much going on, or let them know ahead that I'm struggling. Generally, it does help with a sense of relief that you have that extra time just in case you actually need it. So I definitely agree with that.

If you want to apply for an extension or get special consideration, the details are usually listed in your subject outline, which should be on Canvas or Blackboard. You should be able to email your lecturer and tutor—their email should also be in the subject outline—and you can just email them for extra info or tell them about your circumstances and how you could approach the assessment task.

We're also joined by Lissy today, who has more insight on how to deal with feedback and where to get assignment help. Lissy, take it away!

Thank you so much for inviting me.

Yeah, so I've already been introduced. My name is Lissy. I've just recently joined the LX Lab last year. I've studied at UTS before, so I'm an alum now. My degree was a Master's in Science, also with an Honours degree, and I graduated in 2020.

Cool! So we'll start off with one of the first questions: what is feedback?

So, feedback—I think it's important to keep in mind that it's not just a singular moment in time, but it's a process. You get feedback, then you act on it, and then you get feedback again. So it's more like a loop, as opposed to just one moment.

And I think it's very important to note that it's a common thing in our lives—feedback happens all the time. We're just not overly aware of it because it comes naturally to us. It's a learning process we've incorporated in our life so well that we don't really realise anymore that it's feedback.

Only when someone says, "Oh, let's give feedback to other people," you kind of freak out. But I guess for me, the most important thing to keep in mind is that there is nothing to be scared about. It's just this kind of feedback mechanism to help you improve.

So you said you were a student—how did you deal with feedback when you were a student at UTS?

Yeah. At UTS, that was my Master's degree, so I've been able to encounter all kinds of different feedback—some better, some worse—but it's just a learning curve. By the time I started my degree at UTS, I was fairly okay with just accepting that some feedback is not perfect, and just keeping in mind that it's not meant as a personal offence, and that you just want to keep an open mind and just take it.

Sometimes, if I thought that I couldn't handle it at that point in time, I'd just write it down, keep it in mind, step back, talk with friends, revisit it a couple of weeks later—maybe when you've gained some distance to your own work and to the feedback itself—and then just look at it again.

Sometimes it becomes so much clearer, just because emotions are a thing, right? It's important not to see it too emotionally, and sometimes that just takes time.

Do you have a feedback horror story or a time that you just couldn't deal with feedback?

Yeah, I guess I don't have the specific reason or assignment anymore, but I still remember the feeling so well. It was something I had worked on for hours and hours and hours, and I was super confident about what I'd done and I loved what I'd done.

Basically, I got it back and everyone was like, "Why did you do this? This is wrong. This is weird. You shouldn't have done that. The expectation was different. Why did you do this and that and that?"

It's just, I guess, the most soul-crushing feeling that everyone probably knows, because you're so happy about what you've done, and then other people just think that you haven't achieved what you were supposed to be doing.

I guess that is one of the horror stories where you just need to take a deep breath. I think I was super hurt at the time, but looking back at it, I learned a lot and I can see what happened and how it happened.

But it took me a couple of looks at the feedback and at my work to realise what they actually meant with it, and then I was like, "Oh, okay, I see."

Yeah, I've had that feeling. You spend hours on it and this is the feedback you get.

Moving on from that, is there a certain way students should take when receiving feedback?

Similar to what I said, it's important to keep in mind that feedback—at least in this environment—is supposed to be at a professional level. Usually, people wouldn't give you feedback just to hurt your feelings or to diminish you or belittle your work.

It's usually on the grounds that there is room for improvement, which is not meant as a mean thing—it's just that there are ways you can improve your work. The way that you find out about that is that someone gives you feedback.

Then, going from there, it's very important to look at the feedback you've received and actually see how you can incorporate these comments into your next work.

Were there any resources that you recommend students seek for further feedback, or any that you used yourself when you were a student?

There are definitely a lot of resources out there. I think UTS students have access to LinkedIn Learning, so there are definitely some resources out there. If you don't want to go with LinkedIn, there are some YouTube channels.

As always, Google is there—we spend so much time there and there are obviously better and worse resources out there. For example, if you're looking for grammar advice, what I loved using is just Grammarly, because there are so many tiny errors I would make, or punctuation errors, or just over-complicating something that could be so much simpler. So I use that a lot.

I think that's especially nice for non-native speakers, so that helped me a lot. Other than that, UTS provides AcaWriter, an automated AI feedback tool. I haven't personally looked at it myself, I have to admit, but I know that it exists, so that's definitely something you could look into.

Talk to friends and peers that have been going through the same thing or maybe have done the same assignment.

A question that's kind of not on the same course: should students ask for early feedback on things like a first draft, even if the subject hasn't required the student to do that?

I guess this depends a little bit on your faculty, your school, or maybe even your subject coordinator or tutor individually, how they want to handle things like that.

What my approach is—and I have to admit, that was just my approach in my master's, because in my bachelor's I was terrified, I would never ask any questions, I didn't want to seem dumb or uninformed or anything, I was terrified.

But then eventually during my master's, I was like, "You know what, I'm just going to ask. It doesn't hurt to ask, right?" So I started doing that, and then usually, I guess, they will tell you individually if they can provide you feedback or if they will not, depending on their guidelines.

If you have a question, just ask, because you will not be judged for too long, rather than if you don't ask and you'll never find out.

I still remember from my undergrad where I used to be terrified. They were these mystical creatures that were all knowledgeable and I was just this tiny little student. But in the end, usually everyone wants you to grow. So yeah, just have the confidence to ask and it'll work out.

Thanks for joining us, Lissy. Really helpful, especially learning about that AI software that can actually give you feedback. That's something I learned here today. That's really cool. It was lovely having you here.

Thank you so much. That was great.

If you get anything from this episode, there are a bunch of UTS services to help you get through that assignment. And go get that free premium Grammarly.

Thanks for listening. If you want to check out any of our other previous episodes, they're on our website and other sites like Spotify.

A special shout out to UTS Startups, as always, for allowing us to use the podcasting space. You should really check out UTS Startups as they have an amazing range of resources.

Don't forget to join us for our next podcast.

Until next time, see ya!