Feedback literacy

Provide multiple opportunities for formative feedback where possible and this can be quite light touch for example through class discussions about the assessment before and after submission. Make sure you signpost this as students may not recognise this as feedback. 

Take some time to discuss the purpose of formative feedback with your students and give them an opportunity to ask questions to help clarify their understanding and the actions they should take based on the feedback provided. 

Students who are at earlier stages of their studies are likely to need more support making sense of feedback as they are transitioning into university. This also applies to international students who are likely to have experienced different assessment systems. This will impact their understanding of the purpose of feedback and the importance of seeking opportunities for clarification. Students making other transitions might also need some extra guidance. This could include students encountering new forms of assessment, or those moving onto postgraduate study.

If you are teaching a larger cohort, you could provide feedback through group activities to encourage peer discussion and dialogue. Students are more likely to understand what is expected of them if they are asked to provide feedback to their peers as they will begin to recognise what good quality work looks like.  

You could provide opportunities for your students to contribute to assessment guidance to help build their understanding of what is required. The following examples from Teaching Matters provide some ideas about how you could engage students in a dialogue about their assessment. 

• Co-creating a grade related criteria matrix with students
• “I know a first when I see one!”: Developing transparent marking descriptors with the help of students

Provide feedback which is challenging and developmental but bear in mind that students may be more affected by the tone of feedback than we might imagine, as they may be unaccustomed to how feedback can be given in academic work. Avoid using words such as unfortunately or focusing only on what is missing, instead be precise and provide clarity. 

It is important that any feedback provided to students uses language that lets them know that you believe they are capable of improving. Comment on what the student has done well as this will help motivate them and build their confidence.  Previous data collected from high achieving students at Edinburgh also suggested that sometimes successful students are unsure what they have done well and are worried they won’t manage to replicate their past achievements.

Provide actionable feedback to help your students understand that they need to do to improve. If there are multiple things that need to be addressed, pick a few of the most important improvements and provide clear guidance about how the student can take steps to achieve these. 

In the following example from Teaching Matters a three comments approach has been adopted to simplify the feedback:

• Motivational: what was done well
• Informational: identifying the main areas of weakness
• Feed-forward: what should the students improve in the future

Action Feedback Protocol: Bringing students into the feedback journey

Incorporating digital assessment tools into your assessment design can help your students engage with feedback. They can help you provide personalised feedback and offer further opportunities to have a dialogue. Technology can also help you manage the feedback process, for example you could incorporate marking criteria in the digital assessment tool you are using. In this Teaching Matters example the authors share their experience of using rubrics in Learn.   

Enhancing marking and feedback practices with Learn rubrics: A case study. 

Digital tools can also help you adopt more inclusive and equitable assessments by building in flexibility and choice for students. You could offer a choice of assessment formats such as a recorded presentation instead of a live one. Universal Design for Learning (UDL) is a framework which encourages us to design our teaching and learning for a range of abilities to make learning accessible for the majority of students without the need for adaptations (when possible). The University of Edinburgh Accessible and Inclusive Learning Policy builds on the principle of Universal Design. 

Audio and video feedback can help build positive relationships between students and educators. This Teaching Matters blog explores the potential benefits and barriers of video feedback pre-pandemic. 

Why multimedia matters: promoting the use of video in assessment and feedback. In their review of the literature Pitt and Quinlan (2022) highlight growing evidence that there are advantages to providing video feedback. They cite evidence that video feedback can feel more personalised and engaging and that it may help to address the attainment gap.

In recent years AI technologies have disrupted assessment and feedback practices. The University of Edinburgh does not ban the use of generative AI, however its use is stricter for assessment (Using generative AI in your studies: guidelines for students).

The potential of AI in formative feedback is explored in this Teaching Matters blog.

Assessment innovation in the age of artificial intelligence.