Navigating feedback practices across learning contexts: implications for feedback literacy

Student feedback practices have been primarily discussed within a context of the particular course or unit of study. Little attention has been paid to how students navigate their feedback practices as they progress through different learning contexts and whether they apply known feedback strategies in new settings. To open exploration of this issue, case studies of five participants were studied over different courses – undergraduate, direct-entry access program and postgraduate - in order to identify how learners’ understandings of past and immediate contexts impacted their approaches to feedback. Data were collected through student artefacts which included e-portfolios completed in the direct-entry program and two interviews, approximately one year apart. Thematic analysis of the data indicated influences of learners’ feedback histories on the application of feedback in new contexts. The findings highlight the need to consider students’ past feedback experiences, as well as identify connections between courses, in order to assist students in applying feedback practices across contexts. Further research exploring how micro transitions between courses and students’ lived experiences of interacting with feedback tools and materials influence their feedback literacy is recommended.