Creating feedback with ImPACT : Improving consistency in feedback through the design of principles of good feedback and creating common QuickMarks

Abstract Consistency in feedback is recognised as a crucial element for student assessment literacy and electronic feedback can facilitate this. The present project aimed to develop and refine common ways to communicate key feedback messages as part of transparency in assessment to enhance students' learning using QuickMarks (QMs; part of Turnitin) and support teachers' feedback literacy. Development of the QM sets required construction of good practice principles outlining what constituted good feedback: Improvement focus, Parsimony/Generality, Accessibility, Clarity and Consistency and Tone (acronym ImPACT). The project took place in two phases across two institutions. In both phases, psychology teaching staff were asked to provide either all or their perceived most important QMs. Content analyses identified topics fed back on, and these were used to develop QM sets using ImPACT. In phase 1, teaching staff reported use of common QMs facilitated marking efficiency and encouraged balance between positive and developmental feedback. Phase 2 used the same method to develop common QMs, but also aligned QMs to course learning outcomes in a different university. Student feedback was primarily positive and demonstrated acceptability and use of QMs, although students needed support to act on feedback. Our findings suggest common QMs can facilitate a continuing dialogue between teaching staff and students, improving transparency and supporting feedback literacy. Encouraging adherence to the use of the common set of QMs amongst teaching staff is still needed. Adopting ImPACT principles and common QMs could address challenges in education such as lack of transparency in feedback and enabling elements of personalisation in feedback. Context and implications Rationale for this study: The rationale for this study was to improve consistency in feedback thereby improving the transparency of the assessment process. Why the new findings matter: The paper describes a set of good practice principles that clarify what good feedback consists of and that developing and using a common set of feedback according to these principles is useful and acceptable to teaching staff and students. Implications for educational researchers and policy makers: This has implications to support teaching staff to develop their feedback literacy, and, in turn, support students to develop theirs. Led to the development of ImPACT principles, a set of guidelines that can be further tested to establish whether they describe effective feedback in Higher Education.