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FrancoAngeli Journals

Articles/Articoli

Vol. 12 No. 2 (2021): Evaluation, feedback, equity: a challenge in education

Rethinking feedback: The role of comparison in assessment for learning processes

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3280/ess2-2021oa12429
Submitted
agosto 31, 2021
Published
2021-12-21

Abstract

International research on feedback is framed from a dialogical and social constructivist perspective, with researchers suggesting that to improve learning students must assume greater agency in that dialogue. This article presents the theory of inner feedback developed by Nicol (2020 as a radical alternative. The premise is that students are generating internal feedback all the time by comparing their thinking, actions, and productions against different kinds of external information. That information might come from textbooks, videos, observations, online resources, or it might derive from comments or dialogue with others. In this view, the way to improve feedback, student learning and their ability to self-regulate their learning, is to utilise and integrate a wider range of resources for comparison beyond comments and dialogue in formal feedback practices. The pedagogical implications are explored and an application in a university context is presented.

I haven’t read through the corrections, as other commitments emerged, so I will have to wait until after the peer review process to do that. 

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