ABSTRACT
We all experience the influence of feedback in our lives and in our work. We are told that we can’t park our car in a particular space, and we choose to go elsewhere. Our students tell us that they don’t understand a point we have made in class and we find another way of explaining it. We get referees’ comments on a paper submitted to a journal, we make revisions and resubmit it. These are familiar examples of everyday feedback. Feedback is a normal part of our lives; it is ubiquitous. If it seems to work so normally and so regularly, why then does it appear to be so troublesome in higher and professional education? Why is it that students complain more about feedback than almost any others parts of their courses? Is what we are doing so wrong, or are there other explanations of what is rapidly becoming a crisis of concern?
