The effects of supervisors’ formative feedback: Reflections of students in a postgraduate programme

Abstract

Traditionally, higher education produced knowledge for the social good, until globalisation shifted its role to the production of economically productive knowledge. This shift placed immense pressure on universities to increase the number of research-active staff and to equip students with skills to produce commodified knowledge. Consequently, supervisors’ feedback became central to improving research outputs in the global economy. This study investigated the effects of supervisors’ formative feedback on postgraduate students enrolled in a University of Technology in South Africa. Data were collected through questionnaires and analysed thematically. The social constructivist theory informed this study. Students perceived formative feedback to have positive and negative effects. These results have implications for the manner in which supervisors provide feedback to their students.