This keynote focuses on how to help students make the most of feedback – in other words, how to develop their ‘feedback literacy’. For students to succeed in their studies they need to know how to seek out, understand, and make use of feedback information, all while navigating the complex emotions of feedback. But the development of feedback literacy isn’t just something for university – it’s also a vital skill for success in graduate life. This presentation will discuss practical ways to design feedback processes that can help students make best use of feedback across their lives.

1. Developing students’ feedback
literacy for study, work and life
Associate Professor Phillip (Phill) Dawson
Centre for Research in Assessment and Digital Learning
(CRADLE)
Deakin University
@phillipdawson #VULTSymp

2. To hell with
suspense

3. 4 things to
take from this
presentation
We need to focus more on what students
do with feedback and less on what we do
Students need ‘feedback literacy’ to make
the most of feedback
We can develop student feedback literacy
through modelling, design and authenticity
Feedback literacy is important for life and
work, not just study
@phillipdawson #VULTSymp

4. There has been a
shift in what we
think of as
effective feedback

5. “Feedback should
be more work for
the recipient than
the donor”
Dylan William

6. Feedback is: “a process in which learners make sense
of information about their performance and use it to
enhance the quality of their work or learning
strategies.”
Henderson, M., Phillips, M., Ryan, T., Boud, D., Dawson, P.,
Molloy, E., & Mahoney, P. (2019). Conditions that enable
effective feedback. Higher Education Research &
Development, 38(7), 1401-1416.
https://doi.org/10.1080/07294360.2019.1657807

7. This is not
feedback
“I left feedback on their
final essays, which they
never collected”

8. Effective feedback
requires effects
https://xkcd.com/703/

9. This is feedback!

10. What should students do
when they receive feedback
information?

11. What do you do when you
receive feedback
information?

12. How did you learn to
act in this way?

13. Feedback literacy: “the understandings,
capacities and dispositions needed to
make sense of information and use it to
enhance work or learning strategies.”
Carless, D., & Boud, D. (2018, 2018/11/17). The
development of student feedback literacy: enabling uptake
of feedback. Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education,
43(8), 1315-1325.
https://doi.org/10.1080/02602938.2018.1463354

14. Carless, D., & Boud, D. (2018, 2018/11/17). The
development of student feedback literacy: enabling uptake
of feedback. Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education,
43(8), 1315-1325.
https://doi.org/10.1080/02602938.2018.1463354

15. Improving feedback comments won’t
necessarily improve feedback literacy

16. Three approaches to
improving feedback literacy

17. Modelling
•Seeking
•Sense-making
•Action
•Emotions
•Re-use

19. Designing
•Seeking
•Sense-making
•Action
•Emotions
•Re-use

20. Require students to
show how they have
acted on feedback
from one task to the
next?
Require students to
make specific
feedback requests?

21. Authentic
feedback
•Realism
•Cognitive challenge
•Affective challenge
•Evaluative judgement
•Enactment of feedback
Dawson, P., Carless, D., & Lee, P. P. W. (2020). Authentic feedback:
supporting learners to engage in disciplinary feedback practices.
Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education

22. http://feedbackforlearning.org
(or via Internet Archive)

23. 4 things to
take from this
presentation
We need to focus more on what students
do with feedback and less on what we do
Students need ‘feedback literacy’ to make
the most of feedback
We can develop student feedback literacy
through modelling, design and authenticity
Feedback literacy is important for life and
work, not just study
@phillipdawson #VULTSymp