The Psychology of Assessment and Feedback Processes in Higher Education (Dundee)

Submitting one’s work for expert judgement and commentary can be an unnerving processes. Critical feedback can provoke defensive reactions, elicit negative emotions, and influence our confidence and motivation. In this keynote, I will discuss how insights from psychology can help us to understand emotional, behavioural, and motivational responses to feedback. Having outlined the core psychological dimensions of feedback processes, I will then discuss how these insights can help us to understand challenges inherent to feedback processes in higher education, where students vociferously express their dissatisfaction with this dimension of their experience. I will share the findings from our recent programme of research into students’ cognitive processing of feedback information, and draw out key implications for practice.

Dr Naomi Winstone is a cognitive psychologist specialising in learning behaviour and engagement with education, particularly the processing and implementation of feedback. Naomi is Head of the Department of Higher Education at the University of Surrey, having previously held the positions of Director of Undergraduate Studies and Director of Learning and Teaching in the School of Psychology, and Associate Dean (Learning and Teaching) in the Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences. She runs CPD events and workshops at Universities, Schools and Colleges across Europe, to support educators and students to enhance the impact of assessment and feedback on learning and development. Naomi is a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, and a National Teaching Fellow. You can follow her on Twitter @DocWinstone.