Feedback in Higher Education

Feedback has an important role to play in enabling student learning, and is an integral component of a student’s learning experience, guiding students’ progress on their learning journey.

Black and Wiliam (2009, Page 9) defined feedback as the process whereby “….evidence about student achievement is elicited, interpreted, and used by teachers, learners, or their peers, to make decisions about the next steps in instruction ….” As a process, the feedback cycle plays a key role in connecting teaching, learning, and assessment.  It is important that students have the opportunity to use the feedback they receive to improve their work and hence support learning. Hence feedback forms part of a dialogical process and emphasises the importance of a dialogue between teachers and students (Nicol, 2010).

Traditionally feedback goes hand in hand with assessment, students submit an assessment and receive both the feedback and grade simultaneously at the end of a period of learning. This poses many challenges, such as, the student focus on grades rather than feedback, and feedback being received too late to be of use. Hence, Winstone and Boud (2020) have put forward strategies that can be used to disentangle assessment and feedback. These include designing in feedback opportunities within the course, and encouraging students to elicit feedback.