How feedback works for some of the people some of the time

Tutor feedback on assignments is considered very important by staff and students but there has been debate about how useful it actually is. Students have a highly personal response to feedback because it impinges on their emotions, identity and feelings of self-worth, but we can identify some general types of response to academic assignments and feedback. The presentation looks at the 'typical' responses of: Gordon who sees feedback as a judgment on his capability; Carla who sees feedback as an integral part of learning; Martin who sees it as a checkpoint; and Pia who sees it as guidance for future tasks. We can adopt some golden rules for feedback, drawn from research on these different responses, which have the potential to benefit the majority of students.