What’s in a word? Practices associated with ‘feedforward’ in higher education.

Reimann, Nicola; Sadler, Ian; Sambell, Kay

Abstract

The term ‘feedforward’ is increasingly employed in higher education, and this paper focuses on the way in which it fits into contemporary debates about feedback and its impact on practitioners. Semi-structured interviews were used to investigate the practices academics associate with feedforward and the ways in which their intentions and understandings varied. The term resulted in practices being framed as a process and prompted academics to consider the points in the future when students were expected to deploy information and improve. Three future horizons were identified: the ‘within-module’ future horizon dominated, while the challenges of ‘beyond-module’ and ‘beyond-programme’ horizons became apparent. Written comments, guidance, formative assessment and design practices were associated with feedforward, comprising both transmission and student-focused approaches. It is concluded that the modular system restricts longer-term future horizons and sustainable practices, and more must be done to address the divide between theoretical and practitioners’ perspectives.

Citation

Reimann, N., Sadler, I., & Sambell, K. (2019). What’s in a word? Practices associated with ‘feedforward’ in higher education. Assessment and Evaluation in Higher Education, 44(8), 1279-1290. https://doi.org/10.1080/02602938.2019.1600655

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Mar 1, 2019
• Online Publication Date: Apr 13, 2019
• Publication Date: Apr 13, 2019
• Deposit Date: Apr 20, 2019
• Publicly Available Date: Oct 14, 2020
• Journal: Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education
• Print ISSN: 0260-2938
• Electronic ISSN: 1469-297X
• Publisher: Routledge
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 44
• Issue: 8
• Pages: 1279-1290
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/02602938.2019.1600655
• Keywords: Feedback, assessment, feedforward, modularisation,
• Public URL: http://researchrepository.napier.ac.uk/Output/1740439
• Contract Date: May 14, 2019