Students are often not satisfied with the feedback they receive, and do not always use it. Providing feedback on student learning has been shown to have a positive effect on learning, and is a key strategy in formative assessment. Students need to know (1) the goal, (2) their current level, and (3) the gap between these two, in order to advance towards the goal. In addition to receiving information about (1)-(3) above, students also need to actively engage with the feedback. In order to facilitate students’ use of the feedback given, a sample of upper-secondary mathematics students in this study received formative feedback (i.e. non-evaluative, supportive, timely and specific). The purpose of this research was to examine how students experienced this formative feedback, how they used it, and how experience, usage and goal orientation interacted.

Data collection was done in the following steps. First, an intervention test with two calculation problems was given to the students. The answers were then handed in and processed based on theories of formative assessment and feedback. The students were given the formative feedback and, in order to capture their first impressions, they were asked how they perceived it. The next step was the regular teacher’s test – to give the students an opportunity to use the feedback. Finally, in-depth interviews were conducted in order to study students’ experiences of the formative feedback.

An attempt was made to find factors explaining why the students use, or don’t use, their feedback. The students experienced the feedback in different ways, most notably finding the feedback useful, confusing or frightening. Some of these experiences indicate a view that assessment focuses on whether or not a mathematics question is answered correctly. Consequently, they view feedback as an extracurricular activity rather than as a learning situation. Some students seem to be able to overcome the contextual barriers and some do not even experience any barriers at all. The results suggest that it is essential to integrate feedback in the day-to-day instruction in order to increase the likelihood that all the students will derive benefit from it.