Recorded-voice formative assessment for creative writing students: a case study

Abstract

Assessment has been called the most important element of pedagogy. The significant personal investment that Creative Writing students often have in their submissions introduces another factor for consideration. For this cohort, if not more generally, written feedback would appear to be inferior to assessment provided in recorded-voice form. Analysis of the results of a small-scale case study conducted by the author supports this claim. A proposition by Susan Sontag, that hearing provides a better way of knowing than seeing, generates a theoretical expression of the same idea. Sontag links knowing through hearing to the notion of responsiveness: hearing is more personal than seeing. Developers of effective assessment packages should take this into account. My study also underscored the importance of process for Creative Writing students in the assessment situation.