Effective feedback

Immediate, targeted feedback following an assessment can address misconceptions while building confidence and understanding of academic standards. When planning this feedback approach, research studies suggest that it is important to estimate the expected performance in the initial test: if a large proportion of errors are expected, then students would benefit from immediate targeted feedback.   

How the immediate feedback is framed also matters. Instead of framing feedback as a presentation of the correct answer, research has shown that framing feedback as a review opportunity changes the consequent learning actions students take in response to the feedback.  

• Immediate feedback after MCQs – there is inconsistent research findings on immediate feedback such as student stress, as knowledge of poor performance can discourage future efforts. To implement this approach, you might consider using Moodle Quizzes which allow self-paced learning and opportunities to re-learn and retest. To know if this approach is effective, you may want to check:  
  • Are there higher scores in subsequent examinations? 
  • Do student self-report performance improvement? 
  • Do students show long-term retention of information, e.g., their application of the knowledge in their following term? 
• Immediate feedback in the large cohort classroom - personal response systems (such as Mentimeter) can be used in class to assess students’ understanding of the material. To know if this approach is effective, you may want to check:  
  • Is there improved understanding of the lecture content? 
  • Are students more likely to ask questions or seek further feedback? 

Ipsative feedback offers feedback information on student achievement with respect to their previous work and emphasises students’ accountability and self-directed learning. When planning this feedback approach, it is worth noting that it is challenging to implement in short courses without recording cumulative learning and it may increase workload for educators.  

• Offering feedback to students based on a universal rubric that could be applied across multiple courses or a programme. Students create their personal feedback profile. The feedback profile gives students an indication of their progress by comparison with their previous performance. To know if this approach is effective, you may want to check: 
  • Can students better clarify how their performances are enhanced? 
  • Are students enabled to set personal learning goals? 
  • Are students given time and space to revisit past work and revise current work? 
• Offering feedback to a portfolio of student work or a reflective diary. This acts as a convenient repository for assessed student work; offers space for reflection prompts to help students to reflect on feedback from different sources and on  a variety of work; and guides students on producing action plans for future similar work. To know if this approach is effective, you may want to check: 
  • Do students reflect on and use feedback better? 
  • Do students develop how they give feedback to others? 
  • Do students experience it as only another mandatory task? 

Nicol, Thomson and Brevlin (2013) summarise evidence relating to both the learning benefits that result from the receipt of peer feedback and the learning mechanisms activated through producing feedback reviews for peers. 

There are many opportunities to engage students with peer feedback:

• Examples of whole or sections of essays (strong, average and weaker ones) can be given to students to peer mark and discuss. 
• Students are asked to identify one or two specific areas they would like feedback on for a particular piece of work from a peer or peer study group. 
• When students are observing presentations by their peers they can complete a simple feedback form, which are passed on to the presenters at the end of the session. 

To know if this approach is effective, you might want to check: 

• Do students reference peer input during revisions or reflections?
• Compare peer feedback to teacher feedback: are key strengths and weaknesses consistently identified? 
• Can students justify their feedback using rubrics?

Carless, D., To, J., Kwan, C., & Kwok, J. (2020). Disciplinary perspectives on feedback processes: towards signature feedback practices. Teaching in Higher Education, 28(6), 1158–1172. https://doi-org.lse.idm.oclc.org/10.1080/13562517.2020.1863355 

Daumiller, M., & Meyer, J. (2025). Advancing feedback research in educational psychology: Insights into feedback processes and determinants of effectiveness. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 102390. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cedpsych.2025.102390 

Henderson, M., Phillips, M., Ryan, T., Boud, D., Dawson, P., Molloy, E., & Mahoney, P. (2019). Conditions that enable effective feedback. Higher Education Research & Development, 38(7), 1401–1416. https://doi-org.lse.idm.oclc.org/10.1080/07294360.2019.1657807 

Smith, T. A., & Kimball, D. R. (2010). Learning From Feedback: Spacing and the Delay Retention Effect. Journal of Experimental Psychology. Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 36(1), 80–95. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0017407 

Toppino, T. C., Heslin, K. A., Curley, T. M., Jackiewicz, M. K., Flowers, C. S., & Phelan, H. A. (2021). Why do learners ignore expected feedback in making metacognitive decisions about retrieval practice?. Memory & cognition, 49(7), 1423–1435. https://doi.org/10.3758/s13421-021-01171-4 

Mera, Y., Dianova, N., & Marin-Garcia, E. (2025). The Pretesting Effect: Exploring the Impact of Feedback and Final Test Timing. Journal of cognition, 8(1), 41. https://doi.org/10.5334/joc.455 

Nicol, D., Thomson, A. and Breslin, C. (2013) “Rethinking feedback practices in higher education: a peer review perspective” Assessment and Evaluation in Higher Education, Vol.39, No. 1, pp. 102 - 122. https://doi.org/10.1080/02602938.2013.795518 

Wisniewski, B., Zierer, K., & Hattie, J. (2020). The Power of Feedback Revisited: A Meta-Analysis of Educational Feedback Research. Frontiers in Psychology, 10.  https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.03087