Review of assessment feedback

This article reviews 37 empirical studies, selected from 363 articles and 20 journals, on assessment feedback published between 2000 and 2011. The reviewed articles, many of which came out of studies in the UK and Australia, reflect the most current issues and developments in the area of assessing disciplinary writing. The article aims to outline current studies on assessment feedback. These studies have explored undergraduate students' wide-ranging perspectives on the effectiveness and utility of assessment feedback, the divergent styles of assessment feedback of lecturers and tutors in various disciplines, teachers' divergent interpretations of assessment criteria and confusion about the dual roles of assessment feedback, and the divergences between teachers' beliefs and practices. The review includes analysis and comparison of the research methods and findings of the studies. It identifies a research space for assessment feedback and outlines implications for further studies.