The feedback process as a scaffold of evaluative judgement
Open accessAbstract
To improve their academic performance and prepare themselves for life after graduation, students need to be able to judge the quality of their own work and that of others. This capability is known as evaluative judgement. Evaluative judgement is considered an essential capability for students, but its developmental process is not well understood. This study explores how the feedback process can scaffold evaluative judgement. We conducted a thematic analysis of transcripts from interviews and focus group. Our analysis indicated that professional knowledge, awareness of quality, and feedback comments are at the core of the feedback process, enabling it to scaffold evaluative judgement. While constructing professional knowledge, students became better at making judgements about the quality of the feedback they received, enabling them to aim for a higher quality of work in their work. Based on our findings, we identified that these were not linear processes and correlated strongly with the feedback process. We recommend that the feedback process fosters the construction of professional knowledge and encourages students to aim for high-quality work as a way to develop evaluative judgement.
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?
The three conditions are structured to isolate specific theoretical mechanisms.
“Critically, the three conditions are not simply incremental improvements to a common design but are structured to isolate specific theoretical mechanisms [3, 27-29].”
From Making AI-Generated Feedback Matter: A Large-Scale Study of Feedback Workflows and Student Enactment (2026) · cites this paper as [29]
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
(1978) · Medical Entomology and Zoology · Cited by 53,488 · see citing works
Hattie, J., & Timperley, H. (2007) · Review of Educational Research · doi:10.3102/003465430298487 · Cited by 12,905 · see citing works
One size fits all? What counts as quality practice in (reflexive) thematic analysis?
Braun, V., & Clarke, V. (2021) · Qualitative Research in Psychology · doi:10.1080/14780887.2020.1769238 · Cited by 9,727 · see citing works
The development of student feedback literacy: Enabling uptake of feedback
Carless, D., & Boud, D. (2018) · Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education · doi:10.1080/02602938.2018.1463354 · Cited by 2,428 · cited 2× · see citing works
“While it is yet to be demonstrated empirically, conceptual arguments in the literature (Carless & Boud, 2018; Zhu & Carless, 2018) suggest that feedback likely helps learners calibrate their jud-gements.”
Beyond 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
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-citationWhat makes for effective feedback: staff and student perspectives
Dawson, P., Henderson, M., Mahoney, P., Phillips, M., Ryan, T., Boud, D., & Molloy, E. (2019) · Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education · doi:10.1080/02602938.2018.1467877 · Cited by 514 · see citing works
Self-citationConceptualizing feedback literacy: knowing, being, and acting
Sutton, P. (2012) · Innovations in Education and Teaching International · doi:10.1080/14703297.2012.647781 · Cited by 397 · see citing works
Feedback loops and the longer-term: towards feedback spirals
Carless, D. (2019) · Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education · doi:10.1080/02602938.2018.1531108 · Cited by 328 · cited 2× · see citing works
“While it is yet to be demonstrated empirically, conceptual arguments in the literature (Carless & Boud, 2018; Zhu & Carless, 2018) suggest that feedback likely helps learners calibrate their jud-gements.”
Orsmond, P., Merry, S., & Reiling, K. (2002) · Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education · doi:10.1080/0260293022000001337 · Cited by 292 · see citing works
Conditions that enable effective feedback
Henderson, M., Phillips, M., Ryan, T., Boud, D., Dawson, P., Molloy, E., & Mahoney, P. (2019) · Higher Education Research & Development · doi:10.1080/07294360.2019.1657807 · Cited by 248 · see citing works
Self-citationDialogue within peer feedback processes: clarification and negotiation of meaning
Zhu, Q., & Carless, D. (2018) · Higher Education Research & Development · doi:10.1080/07294360.2018.1446417 · Cited by 214 · see citing works
How to … be reflexive when conducting qualitative research
Barrett, A., Kajamaa, A., & Johnston, J. (2020) · The Clinical Teacher · doi:10.1111/tct.13133 · Cited by 203 · see citing works
Scaffolding critical thinking in the zone of proximal development
Wass, R., Harland, T., & Mercer, A. R. (2011) · Higher Education Research & Development · doi:10.1080/07294360.2010.489237 · Cited by 185 · see citing works
Sáiz, M. S. I., Gómez, G. R., & Boud, D. J. (2020) · Higher Education · doi:10.1007/s10734-019-00469-2 · Cited by 152 · see citing works
Bing‐You, R. G., Varaklis, K., Hayes, V., Trowbridge, R. L., Kemp, H., & McKelvy, D. J. (2017) · Academic Medicine · doi:10.1097/acm.0000000000001927 · Cited by 122 · 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-citationHenderson, M., Ryan, T., Boud, D. J., Dawson, P., Phillips, M., Molloy, E., & Mahoney, P. (2019) · Active Learning in Higher Education · doi:10.1177/1469787419872393 · Cited by 111 · see citing works
Self-citationSmagorinsky, P. (2017) · Learning Culture and Social Interaction · doi:10.1016/j.lcsi.2017.10.009 · Cited by 105 · see citing works
Using learner-centred feedback design to promote students’ engagement with feedback
To, J. (2021) · Higher Education Research & Development · doi:10.1080/07294360.2021.1882403 · Cited by 45 · see citing works
What does it take to provide effective peer feedback?
Little, T., Dawson, P., Boud, D. J., & Tai, J. (2025) · Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education · doi:10.1080/02602938.2025.2475059 · Cited by 28 · see citing works
Self-citationFeedback That Helps Trainees Learn to Practice Without Supervision
Bearman, M., Brown, J. B., Kirby, C. N., & Ajjawi, R. (2020) · Academic Medicine · doi:10.1097/acm.0000000000003716 · Cited by 26 · see citing works
Luo, J., & Chan, C. K. Y. (2022) · Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education · doi:10.1080/02602938.2022.2088690 · Cited by 26 · see citing works
Bearman, M., Dracup, M., Garth, B., Johnson, C., & Wearne, E. (2021) · Advances in Health Sciences Education · doi:10.1007/s10459-021-10086-3 · Cited by 24 · see citing works
Threats to student evaluative judgement and their management
Joughin, G., Boud, D. J., & Dawson, P. (2018) · Higher Education Research & Development · doi:10.1080/07294360.2018.1544227 · Cited by 23 · see citing works
Self-citationBuilding evaluative judgement through the process of feedback
Johnson, C., & Molloy, E. (2018) · Routledge eBooks · doi:10.4324/9781315109251-18 · Cited by 23 · see citing works
Meaning making about performance: A comparison of two specialty feedback cultures
Bearman, M., Ajjawi, R., Castanelli, D. J., Denniston, C., Molloy, E., Ward, N., & Watling, C. (2023) · Medical Education · doi:10.1111/medu.15118 · Cited by 21 · see citing works
Empowering agency through learner-orchestrated self-generated feedback
Wood, J., & Pitt, E. (2024) · Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education · doi:10.1080/02602938.2024.2365856 · Cited by 20 · see citing works
Conceptualising and grounding scaffolding in complex educational contexts
Elbers, E., Rojas‐Drummond, S., & van de Pol, J. (2013) · Learning Culture and Social Interaction · doi:10.1016/j.lcsi.2012.12.002 · Cited by 18 · see citing works
Crisis? What crisis? Interpreting student feedback on assessment
Buckley, A. (2020) · Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education · doi:10.1080/02602938.2020.1846015 · 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
Fawns, T., & O’Shea, C. (2019) · Italian Journal of Educational Technology · doi:10.17471/2499-4324/1027 · Cited by 17 · see citing works
Qualitative approaches to researching evaluative judgement in pedagogical activities: a case study
Gladovic, C., Tai, J., & Dawson, P. (2021) · Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education · doi:10.1080/02602938.2021.1901854 · Cited by 17 · see citing works
Self-citationStudents’ feedback literacy in workplace integrated learning: How prepared are they?
Nicola‐Richmond, K., Tai, J., & Dawson, P. (2021) · Innovations in Education and Teaching International · doi:10.1080/14703297.2021.2013289 · Cited by 15 · see citing works
Self-citationPreparing students for the future through developing evaluative judgement
Naidoo, O., Tai, J., & Penman, M. (2020) · The Clinical Teacher · doi:10.1111/tct.13268 · Cited by 10 · see citing works
Self-citationFitzgerald, K., Vaughan, B., & Tai, J. (2021) · Focus on Health Professional Education A Multi-Professional Journal · doi:10.11157/fohpe.v22i3.441 · Cited by 6 · see citing works
Self-citationNicola‐Richmond, K., Ward, N., Logan, S., Lyons, N., & Ajjawi, R. (2024) · Australian Occupational Therapy Journal · doi:10.1111/1440-1630.12927 · Cited by 5 · see citing works
Self-citation
Flagged first, then by citations
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Making AI-Generated Feedback Matter: A Large-Scale Study of Feedback Workflows and Student Enactment
Alsaiari, O., Baghaei, N., Lodge, J. M., Gaševi'c, D., Winstone, N., & Khosravi, H. (2026) · arXiv · doi:10.48550/arxiv.2608.11625
“Critically, the three conditions are not simply incremental improvements to a common design but are structured to isolate specific theoretical mechanisms [3, 27–29].”
Teach students to ask better questions with Artificial Intelligence
Wang, Y. V., & Heubeck, C. (2026) · Communications Earth & Environment · doi:10.1038/s43247-026-03536-6
Hoo, H.-T., & Carless, D. R. (2026) · Higher Education Research & Development · doi:10.1080/07294360.2026.2649006
Liu, P.-L. (2026) · Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education · doi:10.1080/02602938.2026.2707279
- Authors
- Gladovic, C., Tai, J. H.-M., Nicola-Richmond, K., & Dawson, P.
- Affiliations
- Deakin University (AU)
- Deakin University
- Corresponding author
- Gladovic, Cedomir
- Venue
- Higher Education Research & Development
- Publisher
- Informa UK Limited
- Published
- 2025-09-30
- Volume
- 45
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 538-553
- ISSN
- 0729-4360 (ISSN-L)
- 1469-8366
- OpenAlex
- W4414624611
- Cited by
- 3
- References
- 38
- Citations by year
- 2026: 3
- FWCI
- 9.38
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- hybrid
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Higher Education Research & Development (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
- Figshare (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Education › Student Assessment and Feedback
- Social Sciences › Education › Evaluation of Teaching Practices
- Social Sciences › Education › Reflective Practices in Education
- Keywords
- evaluative judgments, feedback mechanisms, scaffolding, professional knowledge, student self-assessment, academic performance, quality of work, university students
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
