What’s The Point? Conversations Around Feedback and Assessment

What do students and teachers talk about when they talk together about feedback and assessment? Expanding notions of feedback literacy through pedagogical partnership by Kelley E Matthews, Catherine Sherwood, Eimear Enright, and Alison Cook-Sather
Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education, Volume 49, Issue 1, February 2, 2023

This article discusses research around feedback literacy and the shared understanding (or lack thereof) between students and teachers at an Australian university. Researchers recorded and analyzed approximately fifteen hours of conversation between groups of six teachers and students. While some groups remained in the “venting” mode, only discussing the constraints at play and why it’s so difficult to provide timely and effective feedback, some groups entered a more solutions-focused dialogue. In the latter groups, students had more of an active role in the conversation, and offered ideas to which the teachers could respond. These productive groups also acknowledged the challenges to providing and receiving feedback (e.g., school-wide policies that prevent effective feedback strategies, lack of time to provide feedback when it would be most impactful, and student disengagement with feedback). Next, they moved on to a deeper discussion that challenged traditional viewpoints about what feedback can look like (it doesn’t necessarily need to be specific to every student in order to be useful) and who can give it (students expressed an interest in more peer feedback). They also talked about the need to disrupt traditional power dynamics in the classroom so that students can feel safe, supported, and willing to ask for help from the teacher. This article provides a fascinating starting point for a conversation in any school around the purpose of grading, feedback, and assessment.