Effective feedback in digital learning environments

This is a condensed version of a discussion paper by Ryan (2020). For the full version click here.

For feedback to be effective and learner-centred, it requires more than just the provision of constructive or timely information in the hope that students will do something with it. Rather, it requires students to attend to feedback information and then actively use it to advance their learning.

Effective feedback: a learner centred perspective

A growing body of research highlights three broad principles of effective learner-centred feedback: sensemaking, impact and agency. These principles are explained below.

Three principles of learner centred feedback

1. Sensemaking: Students actively seek dialogues with various sources (e.g., academic staff, peers) to enhance their meaning-making. Feedback information provided by these sources is carefully designed to help students understand the key messages.
2. Impact: Feedback information is designed to be actionable and to have a beneficial impact for students. While this impact can be cognitive, metacognitive, affective, motivational, or relational, the underlying assumption is that it will improve students’ future learning or performances.
3. Agency: Students have the volition to seek, use and evaluate feedback information from a range of sources for their own benefit. They also have sound evaluative judgement skills, (i.e., the ability to critically evaluate the quality of work produced by themselves and others).

Designing for learner-centred feedback in DLEs

Effective learner-centred feedback can be challenging to implement when subjects are delivered through digital learning environments (DLEs). In these online settings, there are typically fewer opportunities for the spontaneous feedback exchanges that naturally occur in face-to-face classes through informal dialogue and social interactions.
Fortunately, with some careful planning and purposeful design, the three key principles of learner-centred feedback outlined above – sensemaking, impact, and agency – can be attained in DLEs using a range of digital tools. The points below provide some brief examples of how academic staff can shape assessment and feedback design to align with these principles using digital tools (for further information see the full paper).

Sensemaking
  • Encourage students to participate in feedback dialogues with peers and instructors using:
    • Collaborative writing tools (e.g., Google Docs)
    • Discussion boards
  • Enhance the clarity of feedback information using:
    • Audio recorded feedback comments (which allow for elaboration)
    • Embedded comment boxes in documents that are clearly linked to relevant section of written work
Impact
  • Improve the cognitive/metacognitive impact of the feedback process by:
    • Encouraging students to video themselves completing performance-based tasks and then provide self-feedback
    • Using ePortfolio-based reflective assessment over the course of a subject
  • Create affective/motivational/relational impact by:
    • Creating personalised video feedback for students
Agency
  • Encourage students to engage in feedback seeking from various sources using:
    • Discussion boards
    • Social media
  • Develop students’ evaluative judgement skills using:
    • Peer/self-assessment on wikis, collaborative writing tools, and ePortfolios
    • Discussing low, moderate and high-quality exemplars of work on discussion boards

Dr Tracii Ryan, Centre for the Study of Higher Education
Last updated: March 2025