By Arvind Kumar, Visiting Lecturer at the University of Hertfordshire, & Associate Fellow at the Institute of Commonwealth Studies, University of London.
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Introduction
Formative assessment plays a vital role in fostering students’ academic development and confidence, particularly during the early years of study. The value of formative feedback lies not only in its diagnostic potential but also in the opportunities it creates for reflective and reflexive learning. However, a persistent challenge in university teaching is ensuring that students engage actively with feedback and use it to improve their academic performance. Drawing upon teaching experiences from the first-year core module Social Policy and Social Problems at Royal Holloway, University of London, this article explores strategies that I used to enhance students’ engagement with formative essays through reflexive learning. The discussion highlights the rationale for formative assessment, the deliberate design of feedback practices, and the incorporation of reflexivity as a means of deepening student learning and critical engagement with them.
Teaching Context and Responsibilities
Lecturers in higher education perform a range of academic tasks, including lecturing, seminar facilitation, marking, tutoring, dissertation supervision, and occasionally module design. Within the Social Policy and Social Problems module, my teaching responsibilities involved introducing students to sociological theories of social policy while simultaneously developing their transferable skills in academic writing and presentation. The module sought to achieve its pedagogical goals through a combination of formative and summative assessments, open-book examinations, and group presentations.
The module design that first-year students often struggle to adapt to academic writing conventions and critical analysis. Thus, formative assessment was introduced as a low-stakes opportunity for students to practice essay writing, receive feedback, and improve before undertaking summative assessments. I provided written feedback on formative essays, summative essays, and open-book examinations, and gave oral feedback on group presentations. Despite these efforts, a key challenge remained: motivating students to meaningfully engage with the feedback provided.
The Challenge of Feedback Engagement
Feedback is only effective when students actively engage with it (Nicol & Macfarlane-Dick, 2006). Yet, students often perceive feedback as a one-way communication rather than a dialogic process. In the module, many students would read the comments superficially or disregard them once grades were released. The effectiveness of feedback, therefore, depends on finding ways to encourage students to reflect on it, discuss it, and incorporate it into their future work.
To address this challenge, I embedded elements of reflexive learning into the formative essay process. Reflexivity, as opposed to mere reflection, involves an awareness of one’s learning processes and an active engagement with the feedback to inform future performance ( Fry, Ketteridge & Marshall, 2009). My central objective was to transform feedback from a static product into a dynamic learning dialogue.
Designing the Formative Essay for Reflexive Learning
The formative essay served as an introductory platform for students to build confidence in academic writing without the pressure of summative grading. I structured my feedback under five subheadings—covering argumentation, structure, evidence, referencing, and clarity to provide focused yet comprehensive guidance. This approach aligned with a key teaching philosophy: students should not be overloaded with excessive or fragmented feedback that could lead to cognitive overload.
I adopted a distinctive strategy in this context, deliberately not assigning marks to formative essays. My rationale was that the absence of marks would shift students’ attention away from performance-based anxiety and toward the qualitative aspects of feedback. Instead, I encouraged students to meet during office hours to discuss their written feedback in more depth. However, this approach revealed a recurring challenge: low student turnout during office hours.
To counter this, I introduced an additional reflexive step. I asked them to submit a brief written response describing the actions they had taken in light of the feedback received. Only after completing this step would their marks for subsequent assessments be released. This intervention aimed to close the feedback loop by encouraging students to actively engage with their feedback and demonstrate reflexivity in their learning process.
Identifying Common Areas of Error
Formative assessment not only benefits students but also provides lecturers with valuable insights into common areas of misunderstanding. By identifying recurring patterns of error in the formative essays, it became possible for me to adapt teaching practices and address these issues collectively. I devoted 10 minutes in subsequent lectures to discuss the most frequent mistakes—such as poor argumentation, lack of critical engagement with sources, or incorrect referencing.
However, to avoid singling out individual students, I was recommended during departmental teaching and research meetings to anonymise excerpts from previous years’ essays while illustrating these points. This modification preserved student anonymity while maintaining the pedagogical benefits of using real examples. The initiative was later identified within the department as an example of good teaching practice, highlighting the potential of reflexive learning to enhance both individual and collective academic development.
Linking Formative and Summative Assessments
The integration of formative and summative assessments was particularly beneficial for first-year students writing extended essays for the first time. I provided written feedback on summative essays using a departmental template that three components: strengths, areas for improvement, and overall performance. This consistency helped students the continuity between formative and summative feedback, reinforcing the idea that learning is a cumulative and iterative process.
Moreover, while marking summative essays and final examination scripts, it became evident that the assessment process itself could serve as a valuable learning tool for lecturers. Identifying recurring issues in students’ work informed my future teaching strategies to make adjustments to module content.
Reflexivity and Critical Pedagogy
Reflexive learning extends beyond technical writing skills to include critical self-awareness and social understanding. One notable example emerged during the discussion of critical race theory in the module. Following global movements such as Black Lives Matter, there was a noticeable increase in the number of students engaging with questions related to race and inequality. However, the polarization in broader society was mirrored in students’ responses, revealing varying levels of comfort and critical engagement with the topic.
To foster balanced and critical thinking, I incorporated a video on counterarguments into lectures and seminars. This pedagogical decision not only enhanced students’ understanding of the topic but also modelled the importance of critical reflexivity—encouraging students to interrogate their assumptions and situate their learning within wider social and political contexts.
Implications for Teaching Practice
The experiences discussed here underscore the importance of designing formative assessments that encourage reflexivity rather than passive reception of feedback. By asking students to respond to feedback and reflect on their learning strategies, a sense of agency and accountability can be cultivated. Additionally, using formative feedback diagnostically allows us to identify learning gaps and tailor instruction accordingly.
Institutionally, departments can further support such initiatives by sharing good practices, encouraging peer observation of teaching, and providing resources for reflective pedagogies. The adoption of anonymous exemplars, regular feedback discussions, and reflexive learning logs is a strategy that can be integrated into broader assessment frameworks.
Conclusion
Promoting student engagement with formative essays through reflexive learning represents an effective and sustainable approach to enhancing academic development. The strategies employed—such as withholding marks to prioritise engagement, structuring focused feedback, encouraging reflexive responses, and addressing common errors collectively—contribute to a more dialogic and transformative feedback culture.
Ultimately, reflexive learning empowers students to become self-aware learners who can critically assess their progress and adapt their strategies for improvement. For lecturers, it offers an opportunity to reflect on their teaching practices, identify areas for pedagogical innovation, and foster an environment of mutual learning. As higher education continues to emphasise student-centered approaches, embedding reflexivity in formative assessment emerges as a key pathway toward deeper engagement and meaningful academic growth.
Arvind Kumar, Visiting Lecturer at the University of Hertfordshire, & Associate Fellow at the Institute of Commonwealth Studies, University of London
Reference
Fry, H., Ketteridge, S. and Marshall, S. (2009) (eds.) A Handbook for Teaching and Learning in Higher Education. London: Routledge.