Week 3: Further reading

Below is an annotated bibliography of important articles on feedback.

Boud, D., & Molloy, E. (2013). Rethinking models of feedback for learning: The challenge of design. Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education, 38(6), 698-712.

This cutting-edge article challenges notions of what feedback is about and aims to reconceptualise feedback practices as dialogic, constructed, social, programmatic, and focussed on promoting self-regulation. Table 1 provides great suggestions for making the most of sustainable assessment and feedback practices. Rethinking feedback for learning repositions feedback:

  • from an act of teachers to an act of students in which teachers play a part;
  • from the almost exclusive use of teachers, to that of many others;
  • from an act of students as individuals to one that necessarily implicates peers; and
  • from a collection of isolated acts to a designed sequence of development over time.

Hattie, J., & Timperley, H. (2007). The power of feedback. Review of Educational Research, 77, 81-112.

This paper offers a comprehensive review of available literature on feedback that develops a model of feedback to inform practice. They conduct a meta-analysis of the literature to identify the importance of feedback to student learning. The authors then propose a model of feedback at four levels (task, process, self, self-regulation). After each feedback interaction, students should be able to answer the following three questions: 1) Where am I going? (i.e. what are the goals/standards?); 2) How am I going?; and 3) Where to next?. Feedback should be oriented at the level of promoting self-regulation.

Nicol, D. J., & Macfarlane‐Dick, D. (2006). Formative assessment and self‐regulated learning: A model and seven principles of good feedback practice. Studies in Higher Education, 31(2), 199-218.

These authors propose seven best practice guidelines that would promote improved practices in assessment and feedback. They provide strategies to enact each of the principles. The underlying aim of these feedback principles is to support students’ development of self-regulation.

Henderson, M., & Phillips, M. (2015). Video-based feedback on student assessment: Scarily personal. Australasian Journal of Educational Technology, 31(1), 51-66.

This paper provides a good introduction to the use of video feedback in higher education. The research identified that five minute videos recorded by their teachers were reported by students as being individualised and personalised; supportive, caring and motivating; clear, detailed and unambiguous; prompting reflection; and constructive, which led to future strategising. Several potential weaknesses were also identified. Like the students, the teachers also reported that they valued the video feedback process, particularly in terms of being more time-efficient, facilitating quality especially in the form of feed forward comments, and rejuvenating teacher enthusiasm. The article concludes with implications for future research

Carless, D., Salter, D., Yang, M., & Lam, J. (2011). Developing sustainable feedback practices. Studies in Higher Education, 36(4), 395-407.

This article makes a case for sustainable feedback as a contribution to the reconceptualisation of feedback processes. The data was derived from the Student Assessment and Feedback Enhancement project, which involved in-depth semi-structured interviews with a purposive sample of award-winning teachers. This article has reiterated the importance of student self-regulation in feedback processes, including two-stage assignments, promoting self-evaluation and dialogue, and the use of technology.

Useful resources and websites

ASKe. (2017). Good feedback resources, Oxford Brookes University. Retrieved from https://www.brookes.ac.uk/aske/good-feedback-resources/

Boud, D., & Molloy, E. (2013). Feedback in higher and professional education. Abingdon, England: Routledge.

Hattie, J. (n.d.). Feedback: The first secret John Hattie revealed, The Australian Society for Evidence Based Teaching. Retrieved from http://www.evidencebasedteaching.org.au/crash-course-evidence-based-teaching/how-to-give-effective-feedback-to-your-students/

Jisc. (2016). Feedback and feedforward guide: Using technology to support students’ progression over time. Retrieved from https://www.jisc.ac.uk/guides/feedback-and-feed-forward

Merry, S., Price, M., Carless, D., & Taras, M. (2012). Reconceptualising feedback in higher education, New York, NY: Routledge. 

O’Donovan, B., Rust, C., & Price, M. (2015). A scholarly approach to solving the feedback dilemma in practice, Assessment and Evaluation in Higher Education, 41(6), 1-12.

Oxford Learning Institute. (2016). Formative assessment and feedback. Retrieved from https://www.learning.ox.ac.uk/support/teaching/resources/assess/

Race, P. (n.d.). Using feedback to help students to learn, The Higher Education Academy. Retrieved from https://phil-race.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/Using_feedback.pdf [pdf, 138KB]