Making Feedback Matter: Helping Students Engage, Reflect, and Take Action
Contextual Background:
I initiated 1-to-1 support sessions in the Learning Technology department to provide personalised guidance and feedback based on students’ specific needs. These sessions cover Adobe Suite, CLO3D, and portfolio reviews, helping students develop their technical and visual communication skills.
A common scenario in these sessions is a portfolio review for unit submissions. Students book a session, and we go through their work together, addressing their questions and concerns. The diagnostic assessment I use is an informal but structured way of evaluating their work. I typically start by asking students to present their projects, explaining their concepts and creative decisions. It helps me assess their understanding of their own work and encourages students to self-assess, often leading them to identify gaps or areas needing clarification before I even give feedback.
Evaluation – Evidence:
The first 10 minutes of presenting their work is valuable, this process aligns with Nicol and Macfarlane-Dick’s (2006) seven principles of good feedback practice, particularly their argument that learning should be seen as an active construction process rather than just passive knowledge acquisition.DeCorte (1996) also supports this idea, stating that students do not passively absorb knowledge but rather actively construct meaning through engagement with content and interactions with others. Instead of simply receiving information from a tutor, students should actively reflect on it, and use it as a tool of learning.
During these sessions, I provide informal, conversational feedback based on how students present their work. My focus is not just on the technical execution but also on whether their visual communication aligns with their intended message. Often, through dialogue, students gain new perspectives on their projects, which helps refine their work.
However, I’ve noticed a recurring issue: students tend to passively receive feedback rather than actively engage with it. They sometimes appear uncertain about how their work aligns with assessment criteria, or they misunderstand their assessment brief. This reflects what Brooks (2008) highlights—the problem isn’t just about receiving feedback, but about knowing how to use it effectively.
Nicol and Macfarlane-Dick (2006) also address this issue, stating that students must take ownership of their learning by actively constructing their understanding of feedback, rather than just passively receiving it. If feedback is delivered as a one-way exchange, students may struggle to process and apply it in meaningful ways.
Moving Forward:
To make feedback more engaging and actionable, I plan to shift my approach in the following ways:
1. Encourage Active Reflection:
Instead of ending sessions with generic questions like “Do you have any questions?” or “Do you understand?”, I will prompt students to summarise the key points from our discussion. Questions like:
“What’s your next step?”
“How do you plan to apply this feedback?”
“What are the main takeaways from today’s session?”
This approach will help me assess whether students truly understand the feedback and if they are able to take action on it. It also reinforces self-regulated learning, as outlined by Sadler (1989), who argues that students can only achieve learning goals if they understand those goals, assume ownership of them, and assess their progress.
2. Provide a Written Recap Note
To ensure students remember feedback after our discussion, I will introduce written recap notes summarising key points from each session. This will act as a reference guide for students when they continue working on their projects independently.
3. Introduce Peer Review for Portfolio Sessions
A future step I’d like to explore is organising small group portfolio review sessions where students give and receive peer feedback. Engaging in peer review offers several benefits:
Students learn to articulate constructive feedback, understand how to receive feedback, and develop the ability to give meaningful feedback to others. These skills are essential not just for academic growth, but also for professional development in creative industry. Secondly, students can gain a deeper understanding of assessment criteria, by analysing and critiquing others’ work, they can better recognise strengths and weakness in their own projects.
This encourages self-reflection and improves their ability to meet assessment expectations more effectively. Finally, the small group peer-to-peer feedback session helps to generate a sense of community and emotional support. Peer review helps foster a collaborative learning environment where students learn from each other’s research, approach, and mistakes, eventually, applying them to their individual practice. Building a safe conversational study space can be emotionally supportive, and feeling emotionally supported in the learning process can increase confidence, engagement, and motivation, contributing to more efficient and meaningful learning experiences.
This aligns with Nicol and Macfarlane-Dick’s (2006) argument that effective feedback is not just about tutor-to-student exchanges but also about encouraging dialogue and peer learning. By participating in constructive critique sessions, students not only gain technical and conceptual insights but also develop essential communication and problem-solving skills that are crucial for their creative and professional growth.
Conclusion:
By implementing these changes, I hope to move beyond just delivering feedback to guiding students in making sense of it. The goal is to help students become more independent, reflective, and engaged learners who take ownership of their creative and technical growth.
Reference:
Brooks, K. (2008) ‘Could do better? Students’ critique of written feedback’, Networks, 1(1), pp. 5–8.
DeCorte, E. (1996) ‘New perspectives on learning and teaching in higher education’, in Burgen, A. (ed.) Goals and purposes of higher education in the 21st century. London: Jessica Kingsley.
Nicol, D.J. and 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), pp. 199–218.
Sadler, D.R. (1989) ‘Formative assessment and the design of instructional systems’, Instructional Science, 18, pp. 119–144.