Why students ignore feedback—and the free tool helping them to use it constructively

Phys · May 19, 2026 · 370 words · By University

headphones Listen to the eFinder podcast briefing

Generate a natural audio summary of this story

Daily briefing

What to know about Why students ignore feedback—and the free tool helping them to use it constructively

The University of Surrey has developed a free online platform called Feedback emPower Tools to help students and professionals process and implement academic and professional feedback. The tool provides resources such as 'PowerPacks' and videos to improve feedback literacy and emotional regulation.

Propaganda risk 10%

Claims checked 5

Techniques found 0

Topics 0

Coverage spectrum

Coverage gap: Low Left coverage

Left0%

Center75%

Right25%

4 sources compared across this story cluster. This is an eFinder estimate from indexed source coverage, not an editorial rating.

What happened

Why students ignore feedback—and the free tool helping them to use it constructively Gaby Clark Scientific Editor Andrew Zinin Lead Editor A new free online platform is tackling one of higher education's most persistent problems—how students engage with and…

Why it matters

Developed by an international team led by the University of Surrey, Feedback emPower Tools gives students and users practical ways to understand, process, and act on feedback—even when it feels confusing, overwhelming, or wrong.

Common ground

Despite feedback being central to learning, many people struggle to engage with it.

Perspective signals

No major persuasion pattern has been attached yet, so the source, headline, and evidence should carry most of the weight for readers.

Follow-up questions

What concrete event or decision sits underneath the headline: Why students ignore feedback—and the free tool helping them to use it constructively?
What evidence would most clearly confirm or weaken the claim that Importantly, all materials are free to use, adapt, and embed into teaching under an open license?
What should readers watch for in the next update to know whether the story is changing?

open_in_new Read the original article: https://phys.org/news/2026-05-students-feedback-free-tool.html

analyticsAnalysis

10%

Propaganda Score

confidence: 95%

Low risk. This article shows minimal use of propaganda techniques.

fact_checkClaims Checked

eFinder analyzed this article and checked 5 claims against available evidence, cross-references, web search, and Wikipedia. Here is what the fact-checking layer found.

info Single Source 3

check_circle Corroborated 2

check_circle

Claim 1: “Importantly, all materials are free to use, adapt, and embed into teaching under an open license”

CORROBORATED

Two separate web search results explicitly describe the resource as 'cost-free' or 'free to use'.

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — We created Feedback emPower Tools to support students, trainees, employees, and all other learners, to confront this challenge.
https://www.feedbackempowertools.com/whats-the-challenge/

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — Feedback emPower Tools is a cost-free, interactive resource designed to help students, trainees, and all other learners in developing the skills and mindset to make the most of feedback.
https://researchportal.scu.edu.au/esploro/outputs/website/Fe…

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — Enter: Feedback emPower Tools, from three of the world's leading feedback experts: Kieran Balloo PhD SFHEA, Rob Nash and Naomi Winstone. There's video, text, guidance etc on there but most importantly…
https://www.linkedin.com/posts/philldawson_feedback-empower-…

info

Claim 2: “The platform provides a series of themed "PowerPacks," each focused on a common challenge. These include short explainer videos, interactive activities, and downloadable tools”

SINGLE SOURCE

While the existence of the tool is confirmed, the specific detail about 'PowerPacks' and their contents (videos, activities, downloadable tools) is not explicitly detailed across multiple independent sources in the provided evidence, though Phillip Dawson's search mentions 'video, text, guidance' and 'activities you can download'.

menu_book

wikipedia NEUTRAL — 360-degree feedback (also known as multi-rater feedback, multi-source feedback, or multi-source assessment) is a process through which feedback from an employee's colleagues and associates is gathered…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/360-degree_feedback

menu_book

wikipedia NEUTRAL — Audio feedback (also known as acoustic feedback, howlround in the UK, or simply as feedback) is a positive feedback situation that may occur when an acoustic path exists between an audio output (for …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Audio_feedback

menu_book

wikipedia NEUTRAL — Contentsquare is a French artificial intelligence company founded in 2012 by Jonathan Cherki. This company helps to track user behavior on websites and apps, providing actionable insights through repo…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contentsquare

+ 3 more evidence sources

info

Claim 3: “The tool builds on over a decade of research into "feedback literacy" and evolved from earlier work used internationally, including in schools, universities, and even prison education programs.”

SINGLE SOURCE

The evidence confirms the tool's existence and the experts involved, but does not mention the 'decade of research' or the specific use in 'prison education programs'.

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — to use feedback, MO), behavioural (feedback action, FA) and cognitive (perceived use-. fulness of feedback, PU) and (ii) identifying the temporal order of the relationships of. variables using a two-w…
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/404459054_Ignore_le…

info

Claim 4: “Research shows this is not usually down to laziness, but because using feedback requires skills rarely taught explicitly, including emotional regulation, critical thinking, and action planning.”

SINGLE SOURCE

The provided evidence contains general definitions of emotional regulation and critical thinking, but does not provide research specifically linking the struggle with feedback to a lack of these skills versus laziness.

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — A Definition “Emotional regulation refers to the process by which individuals...
https://positivepsychology.com/emotion-regulation/

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — The study concludes that integrating discussion methods and critical thinking development within a deep learning framework can effectively enhance Indonesian language learning outcomes, particularly i…
https://ejournal.stitpn.ac.id/index.php/islamika/article/vie…

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — Sometimes emotions don’t make sense, and sometimes being emotional doesn’t mean you're emotionally intelligent.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D6_J7FfgWVc

check_circle

Claim 5: “Developed by an international team led by the University of Surrey, Feedback emPower Tools gives students and users practical ways to understand, process, and act on feedback”

CORROBORATED

Multiple web search results confirm the existence of 'Feedback emPower Tools' and link it to Naomi Winstone and the University of Surrey.

menu_book

wikipedia NEUTRAL — Exploration is the process of exploring, an activity which has some expectation of discovery. Organised exploration is largely a human activity, but exploratory activity is common to most organisms ca…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exploration

menu_book

wikipedia NEUTRAL — Miranda Wolpert, Lady Sales is professor of evidence-based practice and mental health at University College London. She was made a Member of the Order of the British Empire in the 2017 New Year Honou…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miranda_Wolpert

menu_book

wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Open University (OU) is a public research university and the largest university in the United Kingdom by number of students. The majority of the OU's undergraduate students are based in the United…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_University

+ 3 more evidence sources

info Disclaimer: This analysis is generated by AI and should be used as a starting point for critical thinking, not as definitive truth. Claims are verified against publicly available sources. Always consult the original article and additional sources for complete context.