Dialogic Feed-Forward

by Jessie L. Moore

December 22, 2022

60-Second SoTL – Episode 16

This week’s episode features an open-access article from Teaching & Learning Inquiry and examines the long-term feedback literacy outcomes of supplementing written feedback with a student-instructor meeting to discuss student-led action plans for improvement:

Hill, Jennifer, and Harry West. 2022. “Dialogic Feed-Forward in Assessment: Pivotal to Learning but not Unproblematic.” Teaching & Learning Inquiry 10. https://doi.org/10.20343/teachlearninqu.10.20

View a transcript of this episode.

The episode was hosted by Jessie L. Moore, Director of the Center for Engaged Learning and Professor of Professional Writing & Rhetoric. 60-Second SoTL is produced by the Center for Engaged Learning at Elon University.

Read More about Feedback

  • Blair, Alasdair, and Samantha McGinty. 2013. “ Feedback-Dialogues: Exploring the Student Perspective.” Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education 38: 466–76. https://doi.org/10.1080/02602938.2011.649244.
  • Boud, David, and Elizabeth Molloy. 2013. “ Rethinking Models of Feedback for Learning: The Challenge of Design.” Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education 38: 698–712. https://doi.org/10.1080/02602938.2012.691462.
  • Boud, David, Romy Lawson, and Derrall G. Thompson. 2013. “Does Student Engagement in Self-assessment Calibrate Their Judgement Over Time?” Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education 38: 941–56. https://doi.org/10.1080/02602938.2013.769198.
  • Carless, David. 2019. “Feedback Loops and the Longer-Term: Towards Feedback Spirals.” Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education 44: 705–14. https://doi.org/10.1080/02602938.2018.1531108. [Open Access]
  • Carless, David. 2020. “Longitudinal Perspectives on Students’ Experiences of Feedback: A Need for Teacher–student Partnerships.” Higher Education Research & Development 39: 425–38. https://doi.org/10.1080/07294360.2019.1684455.
  • Carless, David, and David Boud. 2018. “ The Development of Student Feedback Literacy: Enabling Uptake of Feedback.” Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education 43: 1315–25. https://doi.org/10.1080/02602938.2018.1463354. [Open Access]
  • Carless, David, and Kennedy Kam Ho Chan. 2017. “Managing Dialogic Use of Exemplars.” Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education 42: 930–41. https://doi.org/10.1080/02602938.2016.1211246.
  • Carless, David, Diane Salter, Min Yang, and Joy Lam. 2011. “Developing Sustainable Feedback Practices.” Studies in Higher Education 36: 395–407. https://doi.org/10.1080/03075071003642449.
  • Chalmers, Charlotte, Elaine Mowat, and Maggie Chapman. 2018. “ Marking and Providing Feedback Face-to-Face: Staff and Student Perspectives.” Active Learning in Higher Education 19: 35–45. https://doi.org/10.1177/1469787417721363.
  • Deeley, Susan J., and Catherine Bovill. 2017. “ Staff Student Partnership in Assessment: Enhancing Assessment Literacy Through Democratic Practices.” Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education 42: 463–77. https://doi.org/10.1080/02602938.2015.1126551.
  • Eli Review. 2016. “Describe – Evaluate – Suggest : A Helpful Feedback Pattern.” August 3, 2016.  https://elireview.com/2016/08/03/describe-evaluate-suggest/ [Open Access]
  • Hill, Jennifer, and Harry West. 2020. “Improving the Student Learning Experience Through Dialogic Feed-Forward Assessment.” Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education 45: 82–97. https://doi.org/10.1080/02602938.2019.1608908.
  • Hill, Jennifer, Kathy Berlin, Julia Choate, Lisa Cravens-Brown, Lisa McKendrick-Calder, and Susan Smith. 2021. “Exploring the Emotional Responses of Undergraduate Students to Assessment Feedback: Implications for Instructors.” Teaching & Learning Inquiry 9: 294–316. https://doi.org/10.20343/teachlearninqu.9.1.20. [Open Access]
  • Hill, Jennifer, Kathy Berlin, Julia Choate, Lisa Cravens-Brown, Lisa McKendrick-Calder, and Susan Smith. 2021. “Can Relational Feed-Forward Enhance Students’ Cognitive and Affective Responses to Assessment, Supporting Their Wellbeing?” Teaching & Learning Inquiry 9. https://doi.org/10.20343/teachlearninqu.9.2.18. [Open Access]
  • Johnson, Christina E., Jennifer L. Keating, and Elizabeth K. Molloy. 2020. “Psychological Safety in Feedback: What Does It Look Like and How Can Educators Work with Learners to Foster It?” Medical Education 54: 559–70. https://doi.org/10.1111/medu.14154.
  • Nicol, David. 2010. “ From Monologue to Dialogue: Improving Written Feedback Processes in Mass Higher Education.” Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education 35: 501–17. https://doi.org/10.1080/02602931003786559.
  • Reimann, Nicola, Ian Sadler, and Kay Sambell. 2019. “ What’s in a Word? Practices Associated with ‘Feedforward’ in Higher Education.” Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education 44: 1279–90. https://doi.org/10.1080/02602938.2019.1600655.
  • Winstone, Naomi, and David Boud. 2019. “ Exploring Cultures of Feedback Practice: The Adoption of Learning-Focused Feedback Practices in the UK and Australia.” Higher Education Research & Development 38: 411–25. https://doi.org/10.1080/07294360.2018.1532985.
  • Winstone, Naomi E., Robert A. Nash, Michael Parker, and James Rowntree. 2017. “Supporting Learners’ AgenticEngagement with Feedback: A Systematic Review and a Taxonomy of Recipience Processes.” Educational Psychologist 52: 17–37. https://doi.org/10.1080/00461520.2016.1207538. [Open Access]

Explore the Center’s Additional Resources on Feedback

Man writing objectives on a whiteboard. White quoted text reads: "For students to give, receive, and learn from feedback, they must understand exactly what they are asked to demonstrate.”

Implementing Effective Feedback Practices: Strategy 2

In part one of this two-part blog, I revisited results from my students who completed the feedback literacy behavior scale (Dawson et al. 2023). I identified two areas in which students demonstrated room for improvement: (1) seeking feedback information; and…

White quoted text on background of arrow jumping up wooden steps.

Implementing Effective Feedback Practices: Strategy 1 

Two blog posts ago, I shared my early spring semester plans for giving students effective feedback and promoting their feedback literacy in an early college calculus course. Going into that semester, I realized that to promote student feedback literacy, it…

White text on orange diagonal shape reads: "Allowing students to use multiple sources of evidence and a reflective process to self-assess their growth and performance in class has been hit or miss for me, to be honest...” with checkbox in background. Elon log bottom right corner.

Perspectives on Alternative Grading 

“Traditional” grading is a term used to describe the most common form of grading in an academic setting. In recent years, it has been seen that courses implementing this grading system “tend to be more oriented towards product over process,…

White tet on a background of blue and yellow cyclical arrows reads: "The feedback loop has helped me to think about feedback use in cycles, in contrast to feedback approaches that simply justify a mark or grade.”

Assessing Student Feedback Literacy 

In the last blog post, I discussed my initial plans for feedback this semester. A few insights have helped me to plan effective feedback strategies. The feedback loop (Clark and Talbert 2023) structures students’ engagement with feedback they receive to…

Orange square with quite quoted text reads: "Quality feedback will give students an indication of their progress towards meeting learning goals and outcomes."

Planning for Effective Feedback and Promoting Feedback Literacy 

As I continue to explore literature on models of assessment and feedback, the importance of feedback and feedback literacy has emerged as an ongoing theme. At the time of this writing, my colleagues and I are preparing for the spring…

Green background. Text on the left reads: The potential for ChatGPT to get match problems wrong forces conscientious students to use generative AI output critically and always assess its accuracy. To the right of text is a screenshot of handwritten math notes taken on a tablet in black pencil; pink and green highlights emphasize important math steps.

Analyzing an Artificial Intelligence-Supported Assessment and Student Feedback 

In my prior blog post, I summarized lessons learned from piloting an artificial intelligence-supported assessment (AI-SA) and gathering student feedback. This work was framed by Clark and Talbert’s feedback loop model where I used feedback I gathered from students during…

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