Designing satisfying feedback experiences

1. Designing satisfying feedback
experiences
@CarlessDavid
HKU, Faculty of Education
workshop
February 25, 2022
The University of Hong Kong

2. Overview
1. A modified teacher role in feedback
2. Designing satisfying feedback
3. Workload-friendly practices
4. Implications via six propositions
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3. Key feedback challenges
End-loaded assessment
Too much unidirectional teacher feedback
Human nature: Emotions & affect
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4. Student frustrations
Feedback often comes at the end, too late for
students to act …
… a perversely belated revelation of things that
should have been clear earlier (Crook et al. 2006)
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I want
guidance

5. Differentiating feedback from grading/marking
End of module – mainly summative grading
VS
During module – potential for students to act
on guidance
(see also Winstone & Boud, 2020)
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6. Deploy teacher workload wisely
Reduce teacher commentary at times when
it cannot be taken up (Boud & Molloy, 2013)
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7. Feedback graveyards
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8. Proposition 1
Reflect on the value of detailed end-of-
semester commentary & consider more
productive alternatives
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9. RESEARCH EVIDENCE FROM HONG
KONG
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10. Mismatched views
Teachers think their feedback is more useful
than their students do (Carless, 2006)
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11. Feedback & teacher education
Talk more with students about feedback &
its role in learning
Model & share your own feedback
experiences & emotions
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12. Proposition 2
Dedicate curriculum time to
communicate about feedback as a
concept; & discuss students’
expectations of feedback
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13. Timing of critique
For students the Grade is the Feedback!
“I welcome critical feedback when I can use
it to improve my grade but critical feedback
at the end is no use” (student, Carless 2020)
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14. Assessment & feedback sequences
Task 1  feedback  interlinked task 2
Position students as feedback users
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15. DESIGNING SATISFYING
FEEDBACK EXPERIENCES
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16. Satisfying feedback experiences
Making feedback satisfying for teachers is
just as important as making it worthwhile for
students (Boud & Molloy, 2013)
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17. What students might want
For students, what would represent positive
outcomes of feedback processes?
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18. Student desired outcomes
Support to achieve high grades
Feedback they can use
Perceptions of care, respect
Perceptions of fairness
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19. Key challenges for change
Regulations & procedures inhibit agency in
feedback processes (Gravett 2020)
AND
How feedback is framed in QA encourages
delivery models (Winstone et al. 2021)
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20. Multiple functions of ‘feedback’
Competing audiences & functions of teacher
comments:
- Justifying grade
- Offering advice
- Specific vs generic comments
- Quality assurance dimensions
(Winstone & Carless, 2021)
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21. POTENTIAL WAYS FORWARD
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22. Modified teacher role
Design learning environments for students
to generate feedback inputs
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23. Proposition 3
Adopt a role as an orchestrator of
feedback opportunities, more than as a
provider of comments
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24. Peer feedback key rationale
Comparing own work in progress with that of
several others
(Nicol, 2021)
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25. PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS
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26. Shifts in priorities
Carless (2015) p. 240
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Increase Decrease
Guidance within the taught
curriculum
Unidirectional comments at
end
Feedback comments on first
assessment task of module
Feedback comments on final
task of module
Feedback for first year
students
Feedback for final year
students

27. Proposition 4
Design guidance & clarification of
expectations during the module
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28. Within module guidance
• Students co-creating or engaging with criteria
• Strategic use of exemplars
• Building capacities for self-assessment
• Oral feedback exchanges
• Effective digital communication
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29. Begin a written dialogue
On their assignment (or draft), students
complete the following prompt:
“I would most like feedback on ….”
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30. Proposition 5
Implement practical means of injecting
more dialogue into feedback
interactions
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31. Drawing on previous feedback
“The previous feedback that I have used to
strengthen this assignment is ….”
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32. Proposition 6
Design for student uptake of feedback
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33. References
Boud, D., & Molloy, E. (2013). Decision-making for feedback. In D. Boud & E. Molloy (Eds.), Feedback in
Higher and Professional Education. London: Routledge.
Carless, D. (2006). Differing perceptions in the feedback process. Studies in Higher Education, 31(2),
219-233.
Carless, D. (2015). Excellence in University Assessment: Learning from award-winning practice. London:
Routledge.
Carless, D. (2020). A Longitudinal Inquiry into Students’ Experiences of Feedback: A Need for Teacher-
Student Partnerships. Higher Education Research and Development 39(3): 425-438.
Carless, D., & Winstone, N. (2020). Teacher feedback literacy and its interplay with student feedback
literacy, Teaching in Higher Education. https://doi.org/10.1080/13562517.2020.1782372
Crook, C., Gross, H., & Dymott, R. (2006). Assessment relationships in higher education: The tension of
process and practice. British Educational Research Journal, 32(1), 95-114.
Nicol, D. (2021) The power of internal feedback: Exploiting natural comparison processes. Assessment &
Evaluation in Higher Education, 46(5), 756-778. https://doi.org/10.1080/02602938.2020.1823314
Winstone, N., Ajjawi, R., Dirkx, K., & Boud, D. (2021). Measuring what matters: The positioning of
students in feedback processes within national student satisfaction surveys. Studies in Higher
Education. doi:10.1080/03075079.2021.1916909
Winstone, N., & Boud, D. (2020). The need to disentangle assessment and feedback in higher education.
Studies in Higher Education. doi:10.1080/03075079.2020.1779687
Winstone, N., & Carless, D. (2021). Who is feedback for? The influence of accountability and quality
assurance agendas on the enactment of feedback processes. Assessment in Education, 28(3), 261-
278. doi:10.1080/0969594X.2021.1926221
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34. THANK YOU
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35. What staff might want
For staff, what would represent positive
outcomes of feedback processes?
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36. Staff desired outcomes
Students engaging
Students taking responsibility
Students taking action
Workload friendly
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37. https://www.dylanwiliamcenter.com/feedbac
k-for-learning-make-time-to-save-time/
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“Feedback should
be more work for
the recipient than
the donor”

38. Towards virtuous cycles
Teachers designing potentially positive
feedback experiences for students
Students engaging and acting
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39. Digital interaction
Prioritizing learner generation of insights
Designing for dialogue & uptake
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40. Peer feedback key steps
1. Students draft attempt at divergent task;
2. Students review other attempts;
3. Peer feedback composed & received;
4. Opportunities to revise work.
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41. Implementing peer feedback
• Scaffolding & coaching
• Selling benefits
• Modelling
• Multiple reviews e.g. trios
• Leveraging comparisons
• Opportunities for dialogue then revision
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42. The University of Hong Kong
DISCOUNT CODE:
FLR40

43. The University of Hong Kong