Feedback Effectiveness in Professional Learning Contexts

Assessment organisations that operate at a national level in the UK employ hierarchic assessor monitoring arrangements, where the most senior assessors (known as team leaders) feedback to assessors in their teams on their marking performance. According to a sociocultural viewpoint, this feedback possesses learning potential as it allows assessors insights into the perspectives of their team leader. There is relatively little research on feedback effectiveness in professional assessment contexts. To gain insights into feedback effectiveness a literature review was carried out that incorporated 183 feedback research studies. The aim of the review was to identify the characteristics of feedback messages that are associated with effectiveness in contexts where access to knowledge is hierarchically and remotely distributed. For the purposes of this study, feedback is considered to be effective where it potentiates professional learning through supporting the alignment of participants' thinking and practice. The review outcomes are synthesised into a framework that identifies a number of core and sociocultural factors associated with feedback effectiveness. The review outcomes have implications for those with a role in delivering feedback, particularly where feedback is used to influence performances where there is asymmetry in expertise and relative professional status.