In this seminar, Rebekah Marangon presented her innovative approach to automating feedback and marking using Microsoft Forms and Power Automate. The talk addressed the ongoing challenges academics face with marking, particularly the mental load, time constraints, and student disengagement with feedback. Rebekah outlined her solution: a streamlined system where pre-written feedback comments are selected through Microsoft Forms and compiled automatically into a structured format via Power Automate. This approach not only increases efficiency—reducing marking time by approximately 50%—but also facilitates more detailed and consistent feedback.
She highlighted how this system supports moderation, benchmarking, and data-informed teaching improvements by generating analysable feedback data. Rebekah also demonstrated its utility in formative assessments, enabling students to engage with assessment criteria through exemplar-based activities. Furthermore, the system supports longitudinal feedback tracking across programmes, allowing personal tutors and students to identify persistent issues and areas for improvement. The seminar concluded with Rebekah sharing resources and offering a toolkit to help others implement this approach. Audience questions focused on student involvement, feedback quality, and moderation strategies, emphasising the system’s adaptability and potential for broad application across disciplines.
[This summary was generated by AI and checked for accuracy and edited by a human.]
Abstract
This session explores how low-code automation tools, such as Microsoft Forms and Power Automate, can be used to transform marking and feedback in higher education. Based on practical experience within undergraduate law modules, the talk highlights how automation can enhance feedback quality, improve consistency, and significantly reduce marking time – while preserving academic integrity and pedagogical depth. A key focus will be on how automation supports moderation by producing standardised outputs, clearly aligned to marking criteria, with embedded rationales and automatically flagged issues. This not only simplifies internal and external moderation but also supports more transparent and equitable assessment processes. Crucially, the structured data produced through automated marking enables a more analytical, programme-level approach to education. It provides valuable insights into student attainment and feedback trends across modules, enabling teams to identify gaps, spot patterns, and design more coherent learning journeys. These benefits directly support the shift towards programmatic assessment, where learning is viewed holistically and scaffolded across a degree. The session will outline practical strategies, showcase adaptable templates, and reflect on the ethical and educational implications of automating assessment. It will be of interest to anyone exploring digital approaches to assessment, inclusive design, or feedback enhancement.
About the speaker
Rebekah Marangon (she/her) is a Senior Lecturer in Law and Programme Director for the LLB at Aston University. Her work focuses on inclusive assessment design, curriculum development, and the use of digital tools to enhance learning and teaching. She leads a project using low-code automation (Microsoft Forms and Power Automate) to streamline marking and feedback, improve moderation, and generate data to inform programme-level decision-making. Rebekah is a Senior Fellow of the HEA and an advocate for pedagogically grounded, student-centred innovation in legal education.
