�It has a purpose beyond justifying a mark�: Examining the alignment between the purpose and practice of feedback

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Date

2020

Journal Title

Journal ISSN

Volume Title

Publisher

Taylor and Francis Group

Abstract

Research has shown that written feedback is important for studentlearning and development. However, the messages embedded in feed-back may lead to students being misled about what they need to learnor how they need to develop. This article reports on a small-scale inves-tigation into the messages embedded in feedback. Legitimation CodeTheory was used to first conceptualise the often-hidden purpose of adiscipline (English Studies), and concomitantly of feedback within thediscipline, and second to analyse actual comments given to first-yearstudents on their assignments. It was found that there is a clear mis-alignment between the purpose and practice of feedback, thereby sug-gesting that students are receiving misleading messages about whatthey need for success within the discipline. This may have implicationsbeyond merely passing the module. A suggestion is made to activelyconsider, and develop, feedback as a discipline-specific literacy.

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Keywords

English studies, Teaching and Learning, Student writers, Writing skills, Creative writing

Citation

van Heerden, M. (2020). �It has a purpose beyond justifying a mark�: Examining the alignment between the purpose and practice of feedback. Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education, 45(3), 359�371. https://doi.org/10.1080/02602938.2019.1644602