Investigating the impact of increased student feedback literacy level on their expectations on university teachers' feedback

This study investigates two research questions: 1) do senior university students change their expectations on teacher feedback in comparison with their junior counterparts? and 2) to what extent can these new expectations be explained by the changing student feedback literacy level? Survey (n = 427) and interview data (n = 11) were collected from English major students from one of the largest universities in East China. Three lessons are learned from this study. First, survey data suggests that there are no statistically significant differences (but there are categorical differences) between senior and junior students, with descriptive statistics suggesting a decrease in satisfaction from senior students on the quantity and quality of feedback practice. Secondly, the comments to open-ended questions suggest that senior students are looking more for a learning-centred and feedback forward practice. For example, they are more willing to take control of the feedback process and they are looking for more self-assessment opportunities. Thirdly, the changes may be explained by students' improved feedback literacy, which appears to be a result of three interconnected reasons: reduced response from teacher feedback in senior years, the mismatch between teacher feedback and personal career/learning goals, and the growing popularity of peer feedback.