What makes for effective feedback: staff and student perspectives
Open accessAbstract
Since the early 2010s the literature has shifted to view feedback as a process that students do where they make sense of information about work they have done, and use it to improve the quality of their subsequent work. In this view, effective feedback needs to demonstrate effects. However, it is unclear if educators and students share this understanding of feedback. This paper reports a qualitative investigation of what educators and students think the purpose of feedback is, and what they think makes feedback effective. We administered a survey on feedback that was completed by 406 staff and 4514 students from two Australian universities. Inductive thematic analysis was conducted on data from a sample of 323 staff with assessment responsibilities and 400 students. Staff and students largely thought the purpose of feedback was improvement. With respect to what makes feedback effective, staff mostly discussed feedback design matters like timing, modalities and connected tasks. In contrast, students mostly wrote that high-quality feedback comments make feedback effective – especially comments that are usable, detailed, considerate of affect and personalised to the student’s own work. This study may assist researchers, educators and academic developers in refocusing their efforts in improving feedback.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Claims the paper makes
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
Students perceive feedback as most valuable when it is both actionable and supportive.
“This echoes findings by Dawson et al. (2019), who highlight that students perceive feedback as most valuable when it is both actionable and supportive.”
From Personalized Video Feedback in First-Year Writing: A Scalable Practice for Online Student Engagement (2025) · cites this paper as Dawson et al. (2019)
Feedback is poorly implied and enacted by instructors and learners.
“Despite such huge literature, feedback is poorly implied and enacted by instructors and learners [67,69].”
From Artificial Intelligence for Assessment and Feedback to Enhance Student Success in Higher Education (2022) · cites this paper as [67]
Cites
Using thematic analysis in psychology
Braun, V., & Clarke, V. (2006) · Qualitative Research in Psychology · doi:10.1191/1478088706qp063oa · Cited by 194,414 · see citing works
Hattie, J., & Timperley, H. (2007) · Review of Educational Research · doi:10.3102/003465430298487 · Cited by 12,905 · see citing works
Shute, V. J. (2008) · Review of Educational Research · doi:10.3102/0034654307313795 · Cited by 4,631 · cited 1× · see citing works
“The research literature contains numerous studies on feedback approaches that are regarded as effective, and these have been synthesised in several review studies (Hattie and Timperley 2007; Shute 2008).”
BackgroundFormative assessment and the design of instructional systems
Sadler, D. R. (1989) · Instructional Science · doi:10.1007/bf00117714 · Cited by 4,285 · see citing works
Rethinking models of feedback for learning: the challenge of design
Boud, D., & Molloy, E. (2013) · Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education · doi:10.1080/02602938.2012.691462 · Cited by 1,636 · cited 11× · see citing works
“Building on work by Boud and Molloy (2013), Carless (2015) defined feedback as ‘a dialogic process in which learners make sense of information from varied sources and use it to enhance the quality of their work or learning strategies.’”
BackgroundInfluentialSelf-citationBeyond feedback: developing student capability in complex appraisal
Sadler, D. R. (2010) · Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education · doi:10.1080/02602930903541015 · Cited by 1,138 · see citing works
Differing perceptions in the feedback process
Carless, D. (2006) · Studies in Higher Education · doi:10.1080/03075070600572132 · Cited by 1,102 · see citing works
Peer feedback: the learning element of peer assessment
Liu, N.-F., & Carless, D. (2006) · Teaching in Higher Education · doi:10.1080/13562510600680582 · Cited by 1,034 · see citing works
Varpio, L., Ajjawi, R., Monrouxe, L. V., O'Brien, B. C., & Rees, C. E. (2017) · Medical Education · doi:10.1111/medu.13124 · Cited by 1,028 · see citing works
Winstone, N. E., Nash, R. A., Parker, M., & Rowntree, J. (2017) · Educational Psychologist · doi:10.1080/00461520.2016.1207538 · Cited by 884 · see citing works
Developing sustainable feedback practices
Carless, D., Salter, D., Yang, M., & Lam, J. (2011) · Studies in Higher Education · doi:10.1080/03075071003642449 · Cited by 869 · see citing works
Developing evaluative judgement: enabling students to make decisions about the quality of work
Tai, J., Ajjawi, R., Boud, D., Dawson, P., & Panadero, E. (2018) · Higher Education · doi:10.1007/s10734-017-0220-3 · Cited by 810 · see citing works
Self-citationThe “educational alliance” as a framework for reconceptualizing feedback in medical education.
Telio, S., Ajjawi, R., & Regehr, G. (2015) · Academic Medicine · doi:10.1097/acm.0000000000000560 · Cited by 572 · see citing works
Effectiveness of feedback: the students’ perspective
Poulos, A., & Mahony, M. J. (2008) · Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education · doi:10.1080/02602930601127869 · Cited by 544 · see citing works
Excellence in University Assessment: Learning from award-winning practice
Carless, D. (2015) · doi:10.4324/9781315740621 · Cited by 366 · see citing works
Why Open-Ended Survey Questions Are Unlikely to Support Rigorous Qualitative Insights
LaDonna, K. A., Taylor, T., & Lingard, L. (2017) · Academic Medicine · doi:10.1097/acm.0000000000002088 · Cited by 298 · see citing works
Feedback in Higher and Professional Education: Understanding it and Doing it Well
Merry, S. P. (2016) · Innovative practice in higher education · Cited by 292 · see citing works
Feedback on feedback practice: perceptions of students and academics
Mulliner, E., & Tucker, M. (2017) · Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education · doi:10.1080/02602938.2015.1103365 · Cited by 261 · see citing works
Adachi, C., Tai, J. H.-M., & Dawson, P. (2018) · Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education · doi:10.1080/02602938.2017.1339775 · Cited by 256 · see citing works
Self-citationOrsmond, P., & Merry, S. P. (2010) · Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education · doi:10.1080/02602930903201651 · Cited by 246 · see citing works
Pitt, E., & Norton, L. (2016) · Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education · doi:10.1080/02602938.2016.1142500 · Cited by 233 · see citing works
Implementing summative assessment with a formative flavour: a case study in a large class
Broadbent, J., Panadero, E., & Boud, D. J. (2017) · Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education · doi:10.1080/02602938.2017.1343455 · Cited by 191 · see citing works
Self-citationFeedback on learning achievement: rhetoric and reality
Orrell, J. (2006) · Teaching in Higher Education · doi:10.1080/13562510600874235 · Cited by 176 · see citing works
Li, J., & De Luca, R. (2014) · Studies in Higher Education · doi:10.1080/03075079.2012.709494 · Cited by 154 · see citing works
Robinson, S. J., Pope, D. J., & Holyoak, L. (2011) · Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education · doi:10.1080/02602938.2011.629291 · Cited by 153 · see citing works
Managing dialogic use of exemplars
Carless, D., & Chan, K. K. H. (2017) · Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education · doi:10.1080/02602938.2016.1211246 · Cited by 151 · see citing works
Dowden, T., Pittaway, S. M., Yost, H., & McCarthy, R. (2011) · Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education · doi:10.1080/02602938.2011.632676 · Cited by 128 · see citing works
Tai, J. H.-M., Canny, B. J., Haines, T. P., & Molloy, E. K. (2016) · Advances in Health Sciences Education · doi:10.1007/s10459-015-9659-0 · Cited by 117 · see citing works
Self-citationExcellence in University Assessment: Learning from award-winning practice
Carless, D. R. (2015) · Figshare · Cited by 102 · see citing works
How university teachers design assessments: a cross-disciplinary study
Bearman, M., Dawson, P., Bennett, S., Hall, M., Molloy, E., Boud, D. J., & Joughin, G. (2016) · Higher Education · doi:10.1007/s10734-016-0027-7 · Cited by 91 · see citing works
Self-citationDiscipline and methodology in higher education research
Tight, M. (2013) · Higher Education Research & Development · doi:10.1080/07294360.2012.750275 · Cited by 86 · see citing works
Bayerlein, L. (2014) · Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education · doi:10.1080/02602938.2013.870531 · Cited by 80 · see citing works
Cookson, C. J. (2017) · Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education · doi:10.1080/02602938.2017.1420138 · Cited by 15 · see citing works
Issues and agency: postgraduate student and tutor experiences with written feedback
Sánchez, H. S., & Dunworth, K. (2014) · Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education · doi:10.1080/02602938.2014.921885 · Cited by 13 · see citing works
Feedback is a two-way street. So why does the NSS only look one way?
Pitt, E., & Winstone, N. (2017) · Kent Academic Repository (University of Kent) · Cited by 7 · see citing works
What Makes Students Satisfied? A Discussion and Analysis of the UK's National Student SurveyPreprint
Bell, A. R., & Brooks, C. (2016) · SSRN Electronic Journal · doi:10.2139/ssrn.2768941 · Cited by 6 · see citing works
Flagged first, then by citations
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Developing a learning-centred framework for feedback literacy
Molloy, E., Boud, D., & Henderson, M. (2020) · Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education · doi:10.1080/02602938.2019.1667955 · Cited by 555 · see citing works
Self-citationArtificial Intelligence for Assessment and Feedback to Enhance Student Success in Higher Education
Hooda, M., Rana, C., Dahiya, O., Rizwan, A., & Hossain, M. S. (2022) · Mathematical Problems in Engineering · doi:10.1155/2022/5215722 · Cited by 444 · see citing works
Automatic feedback in online learning environments: A systematic literature review
Cavalcanti, A. P., Barbosa, A., Carvalho, R., Freitas, F., Tsai, Y.-S., Gašević, D., & Mello, R. F. (2021) · Computers and Education: Artificial Intelligence · doi:10.1016/j.caeai.2021.100027 · Cited by 440 · see citing works
The challenges of feedback in higher education
Henderson, M., Ryan, T., & Phillips, M. (2019) · Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education · doi:10.1080/02602938.2019.1599815 · Cited by 335 · see citing works
Self-citationPanadero, E., Broadbent, J., Boud, D., & Lodge, J. M. (2019) · European Journal of Psychology of Education · doi:10.1007/s10212-018-0407-8 · Cited by 190 · see citing works
“In more recent studies (e.g. Dawson et al. 2018), there are signs that feedback inputs by teachers in higher education are increasingly focused on strategies for improvement, i.e. planning.”
BackgroundSelf-citationQuality of Feedback in Higher Education: A Review of Literature
Haughney, K., Wakeman, S., & Hart, L. (2020) · Education Sciences · doi:10.3390/educsci10030060 · Cited by 104 · see citing works
Using learning analytics to understand student perceptions of peer feedback
Misiejuk, K., Wasson, B., & Egelandsdal, K. (2021) · Computers in Human Behavior · doi:10.1016/j.chb.2020.106658 · Cited by 98 · see citing works
Dai, W., Tsai, Y.-S., Lin, J., Aldino, A., Jin, H., Li, T., Gašević, D., & Chen, G. (2024) · Computers and Education: Artificial Intelligence · doi:10.1016/j.caeai.2024.100299 · Cited by 93 · see citing works
Instructors’ Perspectives of Challenges and Barriers to Providing Effective Feedback
Paris, B. (2022) · Teaching and Learning Inquiry · doi:10.20343/teachlearninqu.10.3 · Cited by 33 · see citing works
A Novel Operative Coaching Program for General Surgery Chief Residents Improves Operative Efficiency
Chen, X. (., Cochran, A., Harzman, A. E., & Ellison, E. C. (2021) · Journal of Surgical Education · doi:10.1016/j.jsurg.2020.12.006 · Cited by 18 · see citing works
Students’ feedback experiences and expectations pre- and post-university entry
Gray, K., Riegler, R., & Walsh, M. (2022) · SN Social Sciences · doi:10.1007/s43545-022-00313-y · Cited by 17 · see citing works
Hunt, P., Leijen, Ä., & van der Schaaf, M. (2021) · Education Sciences · doi:10.3390/educsci11060278 · Cited by 17 · see citing works
LLM-based System for Technical Writing Real-time Review in Urban Construction and Technology
Cruz Castro, L. M., Castelblanco, G., & Antonenko, P. D. (2024) · EPiC Series in Built Environment · doi:10.29007/d9j3 · Cited by 8 · see citing works
How Technology Assists the Feedback Process in a Learning Environment: A Review
Huang, W., Brown, G. T. L., & Stephens, J. M. (2023) · 2023 IEEE International Conference on Advanced Learning Technologies (ICALT) · doi:10.1109/icalt58122.2023.00101 · Cited by 4 · see citing works
The feedback process as a scaffold of evaluative judgement
Gladovic, C., Tai, J. H.-M., Nicola-Richmond, K., & Dawson, P. (2026) · Higher Education Research & Development · doi:10.1080/07294360.2025.2559635 · Cited by 3 · see citing works
Self-citationPersonalized Video Feedback in First-Year Writing: A Scalable Practice for Online Student Engagement
Pritts, N. (2025) · Student Success · doi:10.63608/ssj.3832 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
- Authors
- Dawson, P., Henderson, M., Mahoney, P., Phillips, M., Ryan, T., Boud, D., & Molloy, E.
- Affiliations
- Deakin University (AU)
- Monash University (AU)
- The University of Melbourne (AU)
- Corresponding author
- Dawson, Phillip
- ORCID
- Venue
- Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education
- Publisher
- Informa UK Limited
- Published
- 2018-04-30
- Volume
- 44
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 25-36
- ISSN
- 0260-2938 (ISSN-L)
- 1469-297X
- OpenAlex
- W2802110796
- Cited by
- 514
- References
- 36
- Citations by year
- 2026: 54 · 2025: 88 · 2024: 67 · 2023: 76 · 2022: 70 · 2021: 64 · 2020: 60 · 2019: 30 · 2018: 5
- FWCI
- 129.23
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- hybrid
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- Middlesex University Research Repository (Middlesex University Of London) (acceptedVersion)
- Figshare (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- UTS ePRESS (University of Technology Sydney) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
- Funders
- Office for Learning and Teaching (ID16-5366)
- Department of Education and Training (ID16-5366)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Education › Student Assessment and Feedback
- Social Sciences › Education › Evaluation of Teaching Practices
- Social Sciences › Education › Higher Education Practises and Engagement
- Keywords
- feedback effectiveness, student feedback, staff perspectives, student perceptions, feedback control design, feedback timing, feedback modality, personalized feedback, academic development, higher education assessment
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
