Supporting a relational approach to feedback on assessments : the unintended impacts of institutional influences on student feedback

This study of student experiences of feedback on assessments draws attention to two different constructions around understanding feedback. When viewed as a product, feedback takes a transactional approach and acts 'as a one-way telling'. By contrast, the relational approach to feedback requires dialogue and is influenced by both context and relationship beyween the students and academic. This study makes connections with an emerging strand of literature which focuses on the relational dimension as a means of shedding new light on a field of practice that, despite the research in the area, remains an intractable problem. While the data supports the emerging literature, and shows that students value the relational elements of feedback, this paper also considers the institutional influences that impede academic practice which challenges the transactional and fosters the relational dimensions of feedback.