Feedback practices and signature pedagogies: what can the liberal arts learn from the design critique?

To examine the differences between feedback practices in liberal arts courses and in design courses, we surveyed 373 students with experiences of both. Our study found that students perceived the feedback they received in design courses as more effective in advancing their learning, and that the emotional effects of feedback presented verbally and in public did not significantly interfere with their learning experience. This article aligns our findings with existing literature on feedback in order to explore how elements of the ‘signature pedagogy’ of the design studio critique might be transformed to apply to feedback practices in the liberal arts.