Formative and Summative Homework
Formative assessment in courses largely consists of weekly homework assignments, which are marked and graded by the class teacher, and then returned and discussed, in the next class. Students therefore receive both written and oral feedback on all their submitted work, and can discuss their work further with class teachers and lecturers in their office hours. For many courses, solutions to exercises are also available on Moodle so students can refer to these in class when the teacher explains them in detail. The lecturer or class teacher provides general feedback by picking up on common errors and misunderstandings in the homework and going over these in detail in class.
This feedback helps towards students’ ability to learn for summative assessment as well as future weekly formative homework. Generally, there will be an upward trend in the grades a student receives because of this feedback. Some courses require students to give presentations in class. The lecturer meets with students early on in their preparation and again a few days before their presentation. Feedback is given immediately after the presentation.
Summative assessment is primarily by examination in the summer term for which students do not receive specific feedback. The exception to this is ST102 and ST107. Feedback is provided in the form of an examiner’s commentary which is available to students shortly after official results are released (please click on the two links to download PDF documents). The commentary provides solutions but also collective feedback on what candidates did well, as well as common mistakes.
A number of courses do have a coursework element, some with a presentation included. The lecturer provides support and advice during the preparatory stages of the group case studies and students are generally encouraged to support each other by asking and answering questions via Moodle. They are also encouraged to make use of advice and feedback hours to ask questions about their coursework. Qualitative feedback, as well as a grade, is given to individuals or a group (in the case of a group project/presentation).
MSc Statistics, including Financial Statistics (research) dissertation
Students undertaking an MSc dissertation receive feedback from their supervisor during the project. This will usually take the form of verbal feedback during meetings and written feedback on drafts. After marking, students receive the examiner’s report which will include comments on how the work might have been improved. More detailed comments are provided to students who need to resubmit their dissertation. These students also have the opportunity to discuss the feedback with their supervisor.
Advice and Feedback Hours
First Year Undergraduates
The Course Tutor for ST102 and ST107 is academic advisor to most 1st year students. He uses end of term reports on LSE for You to communicate his thoughts on performance in formative work. Students are welcome to book an appointment via LSE For You to discuss their academic performance at any time.
Second and Third Year Undergraduates
Students are required to meet with their academic advisor at least once per term although not all students will attend. Those who do not attend are contacted and encouraged to make an appointment. Students who have not been attending their classes or who have low homework marks will be asked to make an extra appointment with their academic advisor. Discussions in Michaelmas term can reflect on the student’s performance the previous year although this is not a department requirement. Students are not required to make an appointment but can attend an advice and feedback hour on a drop-in basis. There is no limit on their appointment time although this will depend on demand.
MSc Students
Students meet with the Programme Director at the start of the year to discuss course choices, including the option to following the research branch of the programme. They are free to meet with the programme director at any point throughout the year as well as discuss progress with individual course lecturers during their advice and feedback hours.
