## 4 Case Study: NSS Data from a UK University
### Phase 2: Teaching Intervention and Evaluation  
#### 4.2.1 Discussion on Issues Identified  
The automatically identified topics/issues were considered to reflect the authors' teaching experience in the department and were in line with previous studies [4; 10; 57]. Specifically, I1, I2, and I3 revealed students' concerns over the teaching and learning materials. We considered that such concerns were caused by insufficient communication rather than an inadequate quality of material, because the department had undergone a rigorous process (including staff training, use of templates and moderation) to ensure the quality of all teaching and learning materials; in addition, it had always received positive feedback from external examiners. Moreover, the students were of diverse backgrounds (i.e., more BTech and converted students than at a traditional university) and whose familiarity with the higher education learning environment varied significantly. For example, the academic writing in the materials may have constituted a barrier to their learning, as revealed by I3, the topic about marking criteria. To address such issues, we suggested that the teaching interventions should focus on providing students with guidance on accessing relevant information and that during the semester each module should have more checkpoints for students (regarding self-assessment and identifying misunderstandings). I4, I5, and I6 relate to the modules' content. While I4 was a generic description of how the content needs to be more interesting and engaging, I5 and I6 revealed more detail, clearly suggesting that the students would like to gain more practical skills upon successful completion of the various modules. Some might argue that Computer Science is a field that combines both theoretical knowledge and practical skills and that students may not have the ability to judge just how practical a Computer Science module should be; however, it has been reported elsewhere that Computer Science graduates lack practical skills [58] and that work experience is important to them [59]. To address these issues, more practical tasks and real-life examples should be integrated into modules. In addition, when delivering lectures, whenever possible, tutors should explain to the students how the theoretical concepts are applied in industry (ideally, with real-life examples) and how the acquired practical skills contribute to their career. I7 and I8 refer to the timing and quality of feedback on students' coursework. Both issues initially appear surprising, as the delivery of feedback at the institution follows a  
Figure 8: The 10 most important topics in the ‘Assessment and feedback’ category. rigorous process in the Computer Science department, especially as, in previous years, it introduced an additional checkpoint (a marking mentor to oversee the process and monitor the quality of feedback). Based on the authors' extensive experience of marking and moderation (over a range of over twenty modules) and the comments by other senior teaching members in the department, we concluded that the feedback given was actually both detailed and constructive, and that some even exceeded the department's requirements; therefore, it was worth exploring possible alternative explanations of these issues. After careful consideration and discussion with student representatives, it was suggested that both issues may relate to the response time of official feedback (i.e., four weeks). First, for major coursework assignments that are usually submitted at the end of a module, students receive feedback only when the module is completed, after the end of term. Second, for minor coursework assignments that are submitted frequently (e.g., the weekly portfolio), students do not receive feedback before starting their next assignment. The existing mechanism for providing feedback to students is not ideal, as students receive no direct guidance on how to improve their marks, potentially frustrating them and resulting in negative survey responses.