The Assessment Bullseye: Engaging students via a visual feedback artefact

Following completion of the PGCert in Higher Education Teaching and Learning (2019), a collaborative research project with Juliet Eve (Head of Teaching and Learning, University of Brighton) was presented at the National HE Teaching and Learning Conference in Leeds. The paper, The Assessment Bullseye, explored how visual feedback systems can enhance student engagement with assessment processes within creative disciplines.

The project addressed a persistent challenge in studio-based education: students often struggle to interpret written feedback, understand assessment criteria, and translate feedback into actionable improvements. Drawing on scholarship in feedback literacy (Carless & Boud) and formative assessment (Sadler), the research focused on making the relationship between performance and learning outcomes more explicit, enabling students to better understand and act upon feedback.

Central to the project was the development of a visual feedback artefact, the ‘Assessment Bullseye’, designed to map performance against learning outcomes in a diagrammatic format. Students completed a structured self-assessment prior to submission, which was then overlaid with tutor feedback using the same visual system. This process made visible the “gap” between student and tutor evaluation, creating a shared reference point for discussion and reflection, and supporting more targeted and constructive tutorial dialogue.

The research employed an iterative, practice-based methodology, combining in-studio testing with surveys and focus groups to evaluate the effectiveness of the approach. Findings indicated that the visual system improved students’ understanding of assessment processes, supported the development of self-assessment skills, and enhanced engagement with feedback. The alignment of the system with visual modes of thinking within the discipline was particularly significant, enabling students to interpret feedback more intuitively and position their work in relation to learning outcomes.

The project also highlighted the importance of dialogue and affect within feedback processes, with students reporting increased confidence and a stronger sense of agency in their learning. The outcomes of this research have informed subsequent approaches to assessment and feedback within Interior Architecture and foundation-level teaching, contributing to practices that foreground visual communication, student participation, and feedback as an active, ongoing process.