Edinburgh Napier University

  This Briefing has been written by Professor Kay Sambell at the invitation of the HKU Wise Assessment Project. Its theme, capitalising on opportunities for informal feedback to enhance learning, has been explored by Professor Sambell in a number of publications, including the ESCalate handbook Rethinking Feedback in 2011 and most recently, the Routledge book Assessment for Learning in Higher Education. In those publications, creating a course environment that is rich in informal feedback is one of six central principles of effective assessment for learning. The other five are authentic assessment; balancing formative and summative assessment; creating opportunities for practice and rehearsal, designing formal feedback to improve learning; and developing students as self-assessors and effective lifelong learners.