In the classrooms of Singapore, the word “assessment” often equates to “exams.” However, according to Assistant Professor Amir Rasooli, from the Learning Sciences and Assessment Department at the National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, this narrow view overlooks a vital aspect that directly impacts student well-being. In this issue of SingTeach, Amir shares about his research study which focuses on the intersection of fairness and the emotional dimensions of assessment. He also discusses how understanding the emotional side of feedback can transform classroom practice and foster a healthier learning environment.

The Assessment Cycle: More Than Just a Score 

Despite efforts to downplay the importance of grades, for many educators, the dominant discourse remains fixed on high-stakes testing. Yet, assessment is a much broader continuous cycle. It begins with identifying learning objectives, then moves into assessment design, evaluation of student performance which leads to feedback, and finally “concludes” with grading. While grading is sometimes seen as the endpoint of assessment, teachers and students may benefit from using assessment evidence to better inform adapting the learning process for each student.

Assessment has long concerned itself with what a student knows (i.e., cognition), with limited attention to how students’ emotions impact their assessment performance and learning. Earlier assessment-related emotion research focused on “test anxiety” to explore how nervousness before and during exams impacts how well students perform. Assessment, however, is not limited to exams and the emotions students experience are not limited to just anxiety. Amir’s work therefore highlights an important but often overlooked dimension: how students feel when they receive feedback and how they manage their emotions in a productive way to learn from feedback. “If the students’ emotions become a barrier to effective use, the feedback will not be used effectively,” he explains.

The ABC Process of Receiving Feedback  

When a student receives a comment on his/her work – whether from a teacher, a peer or an AI tool – they don’t simply read it. They undergo a complex “ABC” process:

1. Affective (Emotional): They experience a surge of feelings, ranging from joy and pride to frustration, anger or disappointment.
2. Behavioural: They decide whether and how to act on the feedback, and what actions they take or to ignore it.
3. Cognitive: They attempt to make sense of the information.

If a student feels overwhelmed or defensive because of feedback, their emotional response can disrupt the cognitive and behavioural stages, leading them to “shut down” rather than learn.

Six Strategies for Managing Feedback Emotions 

Amir’s recent research, conducted in Singapore secondary schools, identifies six primary strategies students use to regulate their emotions during assessment:

• Situation Modification: Changing the external context, such as going to the restroom to cool off or asking an AI to simplify a complex or intimidating response.
• Attention Deployment: Attending to feedback or distracting themselves from the sting of feedback by thinking about something else, like a soccer game or dinner plans.
• Cognitive Change: Reframing the feedback internally or viewing a critique as advice for improvement rather than a personal failure. For instance, students can decide to focus on the good intentions of their teacher, despite the negative emotions they feel. 
• Response Modulation: Physical or behavioural reactions like deep breathing or, notably in Asian contexts, nodding and smiling to maintain social harmony and respect towards teachers, even if they are confused or upset.
• Competence Modification: Seeking out additional resources, such as AI, peers or family, to help bridge any gaps in their understanding of the feedback.
• Seeking Social Support: Turning to loved ones or friends for emotional comfort and relational validation.

When Feedback Is More Than Information 

Part of the finding in Amir’s work is that emotion regulation is not culturally neutral. In Singapore, the values of respect, harmony and face-saving often lead to covert regulation. A student might nod and smile at a teacher’s feedback out of a sense of duty or respect, which can mask the fact that they haven’t in fact understood the information or are feeling deeply discouraged. This politeness can accidentally become a barrier to genuine learning if teachers take silence or nodding at face value.

Interestingly, the source of feedback changes how students process it.

“When feedback comes from a human, such as a teacher or a peer, it is perceived as both informational and relational. Students are more likely to listen to someone they like and perceive as highly competent,” he explains. “Conversely, feedback from AI is viewed by students in this study as primarily informational; students focus mostly on the competence of the tool without the emotional baggage of wanting to be liked by the source.”

Fairness as a Growing Capacity 

Finally, Amir suggests that well-being is inextricably linked to fairness. Rather than viewing fairness as a simple “fair or unfair” checkbox, he sees it as a capacity for fairness reasoning that both teachers and students need to develop.

“Equality is the idea that everyone should receive the same treatment regardless of their circumstances. While we have an evolutionary instinct for equality, social life comes with complexities that makes fairness judgements a dilemma,” he remarks.

For example, in group work, some students prefer to be graded individually if they believe that their team members did not contribute equally. Students consider equality as a basis for their fairness judgements in group work largely due to the stakes of grades attached. To rethink fairness reasoning in groupwork requires shifting the emphasis from grades to meaningful feedback and encouraging students to reflect on how well they recognize and represent one another’s voices within the team.

By acknowledging the emotional dimensions of assessment, teachers can move towards using feedback not simply as a measure of learning, but as a tool to support student agency, empowerment and well-being.