Formative Assessment and Feedback Literacy in Higher Education: Investigating Their Effects on Metacognitive Awareness, Learning Motivation, and Academic Performance
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.65310/jqy74j34Keywords:
Academic performance, Feedback literacy, Formative assessment, Metacognition, Motivation.Abstract
Formative assessment is most effective when students can interpret, evaluate, and act on feedback rather than receive comments passively. This structured integrative review examined thirty peer-reviewed studies published from 2021 to 2024 on feedback literacy, formative assessment, metacognition, motivation, and academic performance in higher education. Sources were coded for conceptual focus, assessment design, learner processes, and reported educational outcomes. The evidence showed rapid expansion of feedback-literacy measurement, growing emphasis on self-assessment and dialogic feedback, and repeated links between feedback use and self-regulatory processes. Metacognitive activity appeared most consistently when students compared standards, judged their own work, planned revisions, and traced how feedback changed later performance. Motivation was strengthened when feedback was timely, actionable, and autonomy-supportive, while grades or one-directional comments alone produced weaker learning processes. Academic gains were most plausible when feedback cycles required uptake through revision, peer dialogue, or subsequent task application. The synthesis positions feedback literacy as the mechanism connecting formative assessment design with metacognitive regulation, motivation, and performance.
Downloads
References
Al Hakim, V. G., Yang, S. H., Liyanawatta, M., Wang, J. H., & Chen, G. D. (2022). Robots in situated learning classrooms with immediate feedback mechanisms. Computers & Education, 182, 104483. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compedu.2022.104483
Amores-Valencia, A., Burgos, D., & Branch-Bedoya, J. W. (2022). Influence of motivation and academic performance in the use of augmented reality in education: A systematic review. Frontiers in Psychology, 13, 1011409. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.1011409
Chong, S. W. (2022). The role of feedback literacy in written corrective feedback research: from feedback information to feedback ecology. Cogent Education, 9(1), 2082120. https://doi.org/10.1080/2331186X.2022.2082120
Dada, D., Laseinde, O. T., & Tartibu, L. (2023). Student-centered learning tool for cognitive enhancement. Procedia Computer Science, 217, 507-512. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.procs.2022.12.246
Daniel, K., Msambwa, M. M., Antony, F., & Wan, X. (2024). Motivate students for better academic achievement: A systematic review of blended innovative teaching and its impact on learning. Computer Applications in Engineering Education, 32(4), e22733. https://doi.org/10.1002/cae.22733
Dawson, P., Yan, Z., Lipnevich, A., Tai, J., Boud, D., & Mahoney, P. (2024). Measuring what learners do in feedback: the feedback literacy behaviour scale. Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education, 49(3), 348-362. https://doi.org/10.1080/02602938.2023.2240983
De Backer, L., Van Keer, H., De Smedt, F., Merchie, E., & Valcke, M. (2022). Identifying regulation profiles during computer-supported collaborative learning. Computers & Education, 179, 104421. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compedu.2021.104421
Erhel, S., Michinov, N., Noël, A., & Gonthier, C. (2022). Tweet to teach: Using a Twitter-based instructional method to improve student motivation and academic outcomes. The Internet and Higher Education, 55, 100876. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.iheduc.2022.100876
Fidan, M., & Gencel, N. (2022). Supporting instructional videos with chatbot and peer feedback mechanisms in online learning. Journal of Educational Computing Research, 60(7), 1716-1741. https://doi.org/10.1177/07356331221077901
Goode, E., Nieuwoudt, J., & Roche, T. (2022). Does online engagement matter? Australasian Journal of Educational Technology, 38(4), 76-94. https://doi.org/10.14742/ajet.7929
Gravett, K., & Carless, D. (2024). Feedback literacy-as-event: relationality, space and temporality in feedback encounters. Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education, 49(2), 142-153. https://doi.org/10.1080/02602938.2023.2189162
Jin, F., Maheshi, B., Martinez-Maldonado, R., Gašević, D., & Tsai, Y. S. (2024). Scaffolding feedback literacy: Designing a feedback analytics tool with students. Journal of Learning Analytics, 11(2). https://doi.org/10.18608/jla.2024.8339
Lee, S., Lee, J. H., & Jeong, Y. (2023). The effects of digital textbooks on students' academic performance, academic interest, and learning skills. Journal of Marketing Research, 60(4), 792-811. https://doi.org/10.1177/00222437221130712
Li, Y., Chen, D., & Deng, X. (2024). The impact of digital educational games on students' motivation for learning. PLOS ONE, 19(1), e0294350. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0294350
Malecka, B., Boud, D., Tai, J., & Ajjawi, R. (2022). Navigating feedback practices across learning contexts: implications for feedback literacy. Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education, 47(8), 1330-1344. https://doi.org/10.1080/02602938.2022.2041544
Martin, F., & Borup, J. (2022). Online learner engagement: Conceptual definitions, research themes, and supportive practices. Educational Psychologist, 57(3), 162-177. https://doi.org/10.1080/00461520.2022.2089147
Middleton, R., Lewer, K., Antoniou, C., Pratt, H., Bowdler, S., Jans, C., & Rolls, K. (2024). Understanding the processes, practices and influences of calibration on feedback literacy in higher education marking. Nurse Education Today, 135, 106106. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nedt.2024.106106
Mohd Noor, M. N., Fatima, S., Cockburn, J. G., & Romli, M. H. (2024). Systematic review of feedback literacy instruments for health professions students. Heliyon, 10(10), e31070. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e31070
Nieminen, J. H., & Carless, D. (2022). Feedback literacy: a critical review of an emerging concept. Higher Education, 85, 1381-1400. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10734-022-00895-9
Rojabi, A. R., Setiawan, S., Munir, A., Purwati, O., Safriyani, R., Hayuningtyas, N., et al. (2022). Kahoot, is it fun or unfun? Frontiers in Education, 7, 939884. https://doi.org/10.3389/feduc.2022.939884
Song, B. K. (2022). Bifactor modelling of the psychological constructs of learner feedback literacy. Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education, 47(8), 1444-1457. https://doi.org/10.1080/02602938.2022.2042187
Uslu, N. A., & Durak, H. Y. (2022). Predicting learner autonomy in collaborative learning: The role of group metacognition and motivational regulation strategies. Learning and Motivation, 78, 101804. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lmot.2022.101804
Winstone, N. E., Balloo, K., & Carless, D. (2022). Discipline-specific feedback literacies: A framework for curriculum design. Higher Education, 83, 57-77. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10734-020-00632-0
Woitt, S., Weidlich, J., Jivet, I., Orhan Göksün, D., Drachsler, H., & Kalz, M. (2024). Students' feedback literacy in higher education: an initial scale validation study. Teaching in Higher Education. https://doi.org/10.1080/13562517.2023.2263838
Wongvorachan, T., Bulut, O., Tsai, Y. S., & Lindner, M. A. (2022). Improving student feedback literacy in e-assessments: A framework for the higher education context. Trends in Higher Education, 1(1), 16-29. https://doi.org/10.3390/higheredu1010002
Xiao, J., & Adnan, S. (2022). Flipped anatomy classroom integrating multimodal digital resources. Anatomical Sciences Education, 15(6), 1086-1102. https://doi.org/10.1002/ase.2207
Yan, Z., & Carless, D. (2022). Self-assessment is about more than self: the enabling role of feedback literacy. Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education, 47(7), 1116-1128. https://doi.org/10.1080/02602938.2021.2001431
Yorganci, S. (2022). The interactive e-book and video feedback in a multimedia learning environment. Journal of Computer Assisted Learning, 38(4), 1005-1017. https://doi.org/10.1111/jcal.12658
Yu, S., & Liu, C. (2021). Improving student feedback literacy in academic writing: An evidence-based framework. Assessing Writing, 48, 100525. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.asw.2021.100525
Zhan, Y. (2022). Developing and validating a student feedback literacy scale. Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education, 47(7), 1087-1100. https://doi.org/10.1080/02602938.2021.2001430
