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Cited by 28Student Assessment and FeedbackEvaluation of Teaching PracticesHigher Education Teaching and Evaluation

Is Feedback a Waste of Time? The Students’ Perspective

Open access
Doan, Loc·2013·Journal of Perspectives in Applied Academic Practice
DOI 10.14297/jpaap.v1i2.69
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Abstract

While it is commonly recognised that tutor feedback is central to student learning, a number of scholars and practitioners in higher education hold that tutor feedback is a waste of time because students are only interested in grades. Based on the results of a survey on 206 students at Aston University, this study finds that students are receptive to tutor feedback and act on it. It also discovers that the quality of tutor feedback and the guidance on how to use tutor feedback students have received significantly encourages them to act on it and enhances their learning in general. These findings have two significant implications. First, instead of assuming that students are indifferent to their feedback and, consequently, failing to give them sufficient feedback, tutors should take time and make the effort to offer them useful feedback. Second, to increase student reactions to their feedback, they should give students advice on how to use it.

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  • Students need illustration and guidance in order to make productive use of feedback.

    “As well, students need illustration and guidance in order to make productive use of feedback (Agius & Wilkinson 2014; Bailey 2009; Doan 2013; Douglas et al 2016; Pokorny & Pickford 2010; Robinson et al., 2013; Winstone et al 2017),”

    From Drawing on Readerly Intuition in Sentence Level Feedback (2022) · cites this paper as Doan 2013

    The matching statement appears in the Abstract, but the available body passages are References rather than the paper’s findings or discussion. Searches for illustration, guidance, and advice on using feedback found no substantive full-text passage on which to base a verdict. (LLM, conf=0.70)

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Cites

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Research works printed but not linked: 5

  1. Ding, L. (1998). Revisiting assessment and learning: implications of students’ perspectives on assessment feedback. Paper presented to Scottish Educational Research Association Annual Conference, University of Dundee, 25-26 September.
  2. Ecclestone, K. (1998). ‘Just tell me what to do’ barriers to assessment-in-learning in higher education. Paper presented to Scottish Educational Research Association Annual Conference, University of Dundee, 25-26 September.
  3. Higgins, R. (2000). ‘Be more critical!’: Rethinking assessment feedback. Paper presented to British Educational Research Association Conference, Cardiff University, 7-10 September.
  4. Hounsell, D. (2003). Student feedback, learning and development. In M. Slowey & D. Watson (Eds.), Higher Education and the Lifecourse (pp. 67-78). Maidenhead, Berks: Open University Press.
  5. Lea, M. R. & Street, B. V. (2000). Student Writing and Staff Feedback: An Academic Literacies Approach. In M. R. Lea & B. Stierer (Eds.), Student Writing in Higher Education: New Contexts (pp. 32-46). Buckingham: Open University Press.

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Authors
Doan, L.
Affiliations
Aston University (GB)
Corresponding author
Doan, Loc
Venue
Journal of Perspectives in Applied Academic Practice
Publisher
University of the Highlands and Islands
Published
2013-12-01
Volume
1
Issue
2
ISSN
2051-9788 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.14297/jpaap.v1i2.69
OpenAlex
W2062856158
Cited by
28
References
35
Citations by year
2025: 1 · 2024: 2 · 2023: 2 · 2022: 2 · 2021: 6 · 2020: 1 · 2019: 3 · 2018: 1 · 2017: 1 · 2016: 5 · 2015: 2 · 2014: 1 · 2013: 1
FWCI
14.52
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
cc-by-nc-sa
Locations
Journal of Perspectives in Applied Academic Practice (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-sa)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Education › Student Assessment and Feedback
  • Social Sciences › Education › Evaluation of Teaching Practices
  • Social Sciences › Education › Higher Education Teaching and Evaluation
Keywords
tutor feedback, student perceptions, feedback quality, student learning, student engagement with feedback, university teaching

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