The Student Feedback Literacy Instrument

Students differ in how well they make use of the feedback they receive. Student feedback literacy names that difference:

the understandings, capacities and dispositions needed to make sense of information and use it to enhance work or learning strategies.

We developed a self-report instrument to measure student feedback literacy and validated it with student samples across cultural contexts and languages. The initial instrument was designed and assessed in Woitt et al. (2025). The full SFLI, presented in Weidlich et al. (2025), consists of 22 items across two dimensions: feedback attitudes and feedback practices. The short form, the SFLI-S, consists of 11 items. Both versions are available in English, German, and Turkish.

• 22items, full version
• 11items, short form
• 2dimensions
• 3languages

You are welcome to use the SFLI in your teaching or research.

The instrument

• SFLI items, English Word
• SFLI items, German Word
• SFLI items, Turkish Word

The open access research papers

• Weidlich et al. (2025): multilingual validation and short form PDF
• Woitt et al. (2025): initial scale validation PDF

Weidlich, J., Jivet, I., Woitt, S., Orhan Göksün, D., Kraus, J., & Drachsler, H. (2025). The student feedback literacy instrument (SFLI): Multilingual validation and introduction of a short-form version. Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education. https://doi.org/10.1080/02602938.2025.2451729

Woitt, S., Weidlich, J., Jivet, I., Orhan Göksün, D., Drachsler, H., & Kalz, M. (2025). Students’ feedback literacy in higher education: An initial scale validation study. Teaching in Higher Education. https://doi.org/10.1080/13562517.2023.2263838

A short summary of the validation study is in the research update.

For teacher education students, sophisticated feedback worked best when paired with high feedback literacy; without it, the added benefits disappeared compared to simple feedback.

When comparing teacher, peer, and LLM feedback, university students preferred the LLM’s comments, but their work improved most after teacher feedback. Only those with strong feedback literacy gained this extra benefit.

Depending on your purpose, one of these scales may suit you better.

• Dawson et al. (2025). The Feedback Literacy Behaviour Scale (FLBS) measures feedback literacy with 24 items across five dimensions.

  doi.org/10.1080/02602938.2023.2240983

• Zhan (2022). This scale measures feedback literacy across six dimensions and 24 items.

  doi.org/10.1080/02602938.2021.2001430

• Song (2022). The Feedback Literacy Scale (FLS) measures feedback literacy across five dimensions and 21 items.

  doi.org/10.1080/02602938.2022.2042187

• Yildiz et al. (2022). The Feedback Literacy Scale (FLS) measures feedback literacy across four dimensions and 24 items.

  doi.org/10.35826/ijoecc.624

Questions about the SFLI, a translation into another language, or results you would like to share? Write to the research team.

joshua.weidlich@ife.uzh.ch