‘Now that’s the feedback I want!’ Students’ reactions to feedback on graded work and what they do with it

Abstract

Since the introduction of the National Student Survey in 2005, like many other institutions, the university where this study took place has expended substantial effort in improving the quality of feedback to university students. However, despite much research, changes in pedagogical approaches and shifts in conceptual understanding related to feedback practice, assessment and feedback still receive the lowest satisfaction ratings in the NSS. Lecturers are discouraged when students fail to take note of their feedback or sometimes do not collect assignments that have been marked. Understanding why feedback is not always acted upon remains an important area for researchers. This paper reports on an in-depth interview study with 14 final year undergraduates reflecting on their perceptions of feedback written on marked assignments by selecting examples of what they considered to be 'good' and 'bad' work. Findings suggested that emotional reactions play a significant part in determining how students will act on the feedback they receive and the concept of 'emotional backwash' is introduced.

Student access of online feedback is modified by the availability of assessment marks, gender and academic performance

“…Student willingness to engage with online feedback files will also be context‐dependent and may vary with attributes of the individual assessment. For example, students can exhibit strong emotional responses to assessment marks that can either increase or decrease their motivation to engage with feedback (Jones et al , ; Pitt & Norton, ). Students may feel they have little to gain from feedback if they have received a good mark; however, students that receive poor marks may also ignore feedback to avoid criticism (Winstone, Nash, Rowntree, & Parker, ).…”

Clarity, consistency and communication: using enhanced dialogue to create a course-based feedback strategy

“…This study did not specifically set out to explore the balance of critical/motivational feedback language needed by students. However, the findings of this study tend to align with those of Pitt and Norton (2016) in that the overall tone of feedback is an area which is in need of further research.…”

The Development and Validation of the Feedback in Learning Scale (FLS)

“…Characteristics of the feedback message and the context in which messages are transmitted by the sender and absorbed by the recipient has the power to enable or restrict action. Amongst others, these perspectives are reported to lead to differential patterns in perceptions of confidence, competence, motivation and effort which have downstream effects on performance (Pitt and Norton, 2017). Recent research indicates that feedback that provides challenge and strategy are highly endorsed by learners (Winstone et al, 2016;Forsythe and Johnson, 2017;Forsythe and Jellicoe, 2018).…”

“…However derived, engaging students in the development of adaptive knowledge, skills and attitudes that underpins hard won gains in learning is crucial, in particular if learners are to develop the ability to manage themselves during the courses of their studies and into employment (Forsythe and Jellicoe, 2018). A recent qualitative report indicates that learners in HE, even when approaching graduation, do not possess the emotional repertoire to manage and act upon feedback and are not enabled in doing so (O'Donovan et al, 2016;Pitt and Norton, 2017). Indications are that current assessment approaches do not enable learners to engage in development in the manner expected by employers (The Confederation of British Industry, 2016).…”