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Linking feedback directly to what will be covered in exams to help students achieve better results using ‘feedforward’ as a tool.Ìý

Students receive feedback on their coursework that is explicitly linked to the skills and knowledge tested in the exams.

In other words, coursework and feedback may be regarded as an important learning opportunity that helps students improve and achieve better exam results.

Educational benefits for your students

Students receive feedback that usually focusesÌýon specific assessment tasks.

Although it isÌýobviously important for them to understandÌýtheir performance in the tasks, students do notÌýnecessarily find feedback explicitly relevant forÌýimproving their performance in the future.

WithÌýfeedback that is forward-looking, orÌýfeedforward,Ìýstudents are more likely to engage with andÌýact on the advice given by their teachers.

FeedforwardÌýis focusedÌýon the student learningÌýand assessments that follow.

What this meansÌýfor module design

AssessmentsÌýare linked up,Ìýand feedforward is a teaching tool that connects the assessments.

Feedforward should therefore be designed and planned as an important teaching element of the module and should not be regarded as an afterthought.

It is obvious that teachers still need to comment on their students’ performance in the assessment. However, their comments can effectively be combined with learning materials that will help students learn and achieve better performance in the future.

Feedforward can also be achieved through feedback on formative assessment or activities. The feedback from these activities and assessments can be tailored to help the student to grasp the content, contexts, or processes of the summative assessment.

FeedforwardÌýcan save you time

Teachers are likely to save time on providingÌýmore relevant adviceÌýto students based on their assessmentÌýperformance.

As feedforward is a planned teaching tool with learning materials, the teachers’ role is toÌýlink students’ performance, and hence learning needs, to the planned learning materials that connect theÌýcoursework to the exam.

A ‘feedforward database’ with commonly-encountered mistakes and relevant learning materials is prepared in advance, thus saving time by not having to repeat similar materials that often require a lot of preparation time. When new ‘mistakes’ are identified, new learning materials can be added to the database.

The database can also be used to help provide examples that cover either mark justification or developmental feedback. This could be short sections of previous assessments with annotations that explain where the work is lacking, while providing an exemplar paragraph as a comparison.ÌýÌý

A database can take different forms, ranging from a modest Word file with text-based materials to sophisticated websites with multimedia contents.

Introducing feedforward to your module

1. Identify the links between coursework and exams.
2. Identify students’ common mistakes/weaknesses.
3. Produce a database with commonly encountered mistakes and learning materials that help students improve.
4. Make links to learning materials in the database when marking assessments.

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This guide has been produced by the ÂÒÂ×Ðã Arena Centre for Research-based Education. You are welcome to use this guide if you are from another educational facility, but you must credit the ÂÒÂ×Ðã Arena Centre. 

This guide was updated in April 2024.ÌýÌý

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