How is feedback used? – The international student response to a Formative Feedback Intervention

•Students appreciate the FFI and claim the grade is motivating.•Students reported sharing feedback, engaging in group discussion and mutual support.•There was a degree of competition which students reported to be source of motivation.•Confidence is one of a range of emotions which rises and falls: “it's like a roller-coaster”.

This study reports on a further cycle of an action research project, discussed in Burns and Foo (2012). It seeks to explore some issues which had previously lacked clarity; in particular, how formative feedback on academic literacy was used and acted upon, and if a Formative Feedback Intervention (FFI) increased the students' confidence in preparing for other summative assessments. It also considers whether the assignment of a grade was beneficial. As in earlier cycles, students were asked to give written reflections using Gibbs' reflective model (1988), and later via a semi-structured questionnaire, but in this cycle in-depth interviews were also carried out to provide rich data and the opportunity to ask follow-up questions. Findings show that feedback is shared with other students, and is transferred to other assignments. It is apparent that FFI has an emotional impact; the grade appears to be highly valued and although an element of competition exists, it appears to be used for self-motivation and monitoring of progress.