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Fairly useful feedback: characteristics of feedback comments perceived as fair by students

David Playfoot Orcid Logo, Ruth Horry, Aimee E. Pink Orcid Logo

Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education, Pages: 1 - 18

Swansea University Authors: David Playfoot Orcid Logo, Ruth Horry, Aimee E. Pink Orcid Logo

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DOI (Published version): 10.1080/02602938.2025.2586836

Abstract

Research has shown that teachers and students are mismatched in their perceptions of feedback fairness. The characteristics of feedback comments that students perceive as fair have received relatively little attention in the literature. We present two experiments which consider whether characteristi...

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Published in: Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education
ISSN: 0260-2938 1469-297X
Published: Informa UK Limited 2025
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URI: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa70849
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last_indexed 2025-12-13T05:30:38Z
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spelling 2025-12-12T14:26:42.3436654 v2 70849 2025-11-06 Fairly useful feedback: characteristics of feedback comments perceived as fair by students 4dbddc73fd0fe464304ba8ad95cbc96e 0000-0003-0855-334X David Playfoot David Playfoot true false ea243bc0327bc0213c076bda1fe85f10 Ruth Horry Ruth Horry true false d2dc3f0da1b377dfc0f2a68dc51eb4b4 0000-0003-1516-7922 Aimee E. Pink Aimee E. Pink true true 2025-11-06 PSYS Research has shown that teachers and students are mismatched in their perceptions of feedback fairness. The characteristics of feedback comments that students perceive as fair have received relatively little attention in the literature. We present two experiments which consider whether characteristics that have been shown to relate to “effective” feedback also relate to fairness. Participants were presented with excerpts from fictional assignment submissions accompanied by written feedback that varied in how usable (e.g. constructive) and how nice (e.g. supportive) it was. They were asked to rate the fairness of the feedback provided. Mean fairness ratings were significantly higher for comments that were high versus low in usability; effects of niceness were smaller or non-significant. In addition, we examined the relationship between perceptions of fairness and numerical grade. Experiment 1 compared fairness ratings of feedback that was, or was not, accompanied by a grade; Experiment 2 manipulated the generosity of the grade accompanying the feedback. Neither grade manipulation had a significant effect on fairness. Participants, however, expected work accompanied by “nice” feedback to receive higher grades. We argue that the priority should therefore be to make feedback usable, and that niceness should be added where appropriate. Journal Article Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education 0 1 18 Informa UK Limited 0260-2938 1469-297X Assessment, fairness, grades, summative feedback 13 11 2025 2025-11-13 10.1080/02602938.2025.2586836 COLLEGE NANME Psychology School COLLEGE CODE PSYS Swansea University SU Library paid the OA fee (TA Institutional Deal) Swansea University 2025-12-12T14:26:42.3436654 2025-11-06T09:53:40.7325651 Faculty of Medicine, Health and Life Sciences School of Psychology David Playfoot 0000-0003-0855-334X 1 Ruth Horry 2 Aimee E. Pink 0000-0003-1516-7922 3 70849__35816__fa08ed5331724706842a46d395adbeae.pdf 70849.VOR.pdf 2025-12-12T14:23:39.2317690 Output 1924430 application/pdf Version of Record true © 2025 The Author(s). This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. true eng http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
title Fairly useful feedback: characteristics of feedback comments perceived as fair by students
spellingShingle Fairly useful feedback: characteristics of feedback comments perceived as fair by students
David Playfoot
Ruth Horry
Aimee E. Pink
title_short Fairly useful feedback: characteristics of feedback comments perceived as fair by students
title_full Fairly useful feedback: characteristics of feedback comments perceived as fair by students
title_fullStr Fairly useful feedback: characteristics of feedback comments perceived as fair by students
title_full_unstemmed Fairly useful feedback: characteristics of feedback comments perceived as fair by students
title_sort Fairly useful feedback: characteristics of feedback comments perceived as fair by students
author_id_str_mv 4dbddc73fd0fe464304ba8ad95cbc96e
ea243bc0327bc0213c076bda1fe85f10
d2dc3f0da1b377dfc0f2a68dc51eb4b4
author_id_fullname_str_mv 4dbddc73fd0fe464304ba8ad95cbc96e_***_David Playfoot
ea243bc0327bc0213c076bda1fe85f10_***_Ruth Horry
d2dc3f0da1b377dfc0f2a68dc51eb4b4_***_Aimee E. Pink
author David Playfoot
Ruth Horry
Aimee E. Pink
author2 David Playfoot
Ruth Horry
Aimee E. Pink
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publishDate 2025
institution Swansea University
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1469-297X
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publisher Informa UK Limited
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hierarchy_top_title Faculty of Medicine, Health and Life Sciences
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hierarchy_parent_title Faculty of Medicine, Health and Life Sciences
department_str School of Psychology{{{_:::_}}}Faculty of Medicine, Health and Life Sciences{{{_:::_}}}School of Psychology
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description Research has shown that teachers and students are mismatched in their perceptions of feedback fairness. The characteristics of feedback comments that students perceive as fair have received relatively little attention in the literature. We present two experiments which consider whether characteristics that have been shown to relate to “effective” feedback also relate to fairness. Participants were presented with excerpts from fictional assignment submissions accompanied by written feedback that varied in how usable (e.g. constructive) and how nice (e.g. supportive) it was. They were asked to rate the fairness of the feedback provided. Mean fairness ratings were significantly higher for comments that were high versus low in usability; effects of niceness were smaller or non-significant. In addition, we examined the relationship between perceptions of fairness and numerical grade. Experiment 1 compared fairness ratings of feedback that was, or was not, accompanied by a grade; Experiment 2 manipulated the generosity of the grade accompanying the feedback. Neither grade manipulation had a significant effect on fairness. Participants, however, expected work accompanied by “nice” feedback to receive higher grades. We argue that the priority should therefore be to make feedback usable, and that niceness should be added where appropriate.
published_date 2025-11-13T05:30:38Z
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