Students’ feedback literacy in workplace integrated learning: How prepared are they?

ABSTRACT

Feedback is powerful for learning in education, and the workplace. Work-integrated learning bridges these two settings, but how prepared students are to use feedback strategies as they enter the workplace remains unknown. This paper documents an exploratory, mixed-methods, study involving final-year occupational therapy students. The students were undertaking work-integrated learning to develop project management skills. The specific research questions addressed were; how feedback literate are final-year students; and, can feedback literacy (FL) education improve FL in preparation for the workplace? Likert scales, open response questions, and assessment rubrics were utilised. Opportunities for FL education were provided. Statistically significant differences between pre- and post-test survey responses were evident. Four qualitative themes were identified; enacting feedback, choice of feedback, emotional impact of feedback and value of the outsider perspective. Some students demonstrated sophisticated feedback capabilities. Others engaged tokenistically with feedback. Tentative support for the effectiveness of one FL intervention was demonstrated.

KEYWORDS:

• Feedback
• feedback literacy
• work-readiness
• teaching and learning
• occupational therapy
• work integrated learning

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Notes on contributors

Kelli Nicola-Richmond

Dr Kelli Nicola-Richmond is Associate Head of School Teaching and Learning for Deakin’s School of Health and Social Development. Kelli is a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and CRADLE Fellow at Deakin. Kelli’s research interests include teaching and learning scholarship and the provision of work-ready health care graduates.

Joanna Tai

Joanna Tai is a Senior Research Fellow at the Centre for Research in Assessment and Digital Learning (CRADLE) at Deakin University. Her research interests include student experiences of learning and assessment from university to the workplace, peer learning, feedback and assessment literacy, developing capacity for evaluative judgment, and research synthesis.

Phillip Dawson

Professor Phillip Dawson is the Associate Director of the Centre for Research in Assessment and Digital Learning (CRADLE) at Deakin University. Phill’s research spans assessment, digital learning, cheating and feedback. His latest book is Defending Assessment Security in a Digital World: Preventing E-Cheating and Supporting Academic Integrity in Higher Education (Routledge, 2021).