CONFERENCES
E&PDE 2026 - 28th International Conference on Engineering & Product Design Education
The Conference will bring together representatives from education and industry interested in sharing new perspectives on design education.
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A FRAMEWORK FOR FORMATIVE FEEDBACK, ENCOURAGING ENGAGEMENT AND AUTONOMY OF NEURODIVERGENT STUDENTS
Bates, Ian; Gleed, Fiona
Type:
Year:
2026
Editor:
Buck, Lyndon; Brisco. Ross; Bohemia, Erik
Author:
Series:
E&PDE
Institution:
Open University, United Kingdom
Page(s):
433 - 438
DOI number:
ISBN:
978-1-912254-24-8
ISSN:
3005-4753
Abstract:
The studio model for engineering and design education requires students to engage with formative feedback that critiques their creative work. Neurodivergent students can find feedback particularly challenging due to rejection sensitivity dysphoria (RSD), an emotional response that can impact engagement with detail, and affect capacity to respond to criticism, both in real-time and during subsequent design development. A simple, accessible framework for lecturers has potential to raise awareness of RSD as a debilitating aspect of some neurodivergent students experience of formative feedback. An understanding of RSD can encourage tutors/lecturers to become more self-reflective of the language they use and the message they convey in their formative feedback. Hence, the framework will not only benefit neurodivergent students but help all students receive a more consistent and considered response to their work that supports autonomy in subsequent design development and progression to further study. In examining closely one aspect of the neurodivergent experience, stakeholders such as lecturers, academic staff, universities, and their partners may broaden their awareness of neurodivergence and develop a cultural understanding that neurodiversity is not a condition but an identity. By incorporating adjustments that meet the needs of a diverse student body with a wide range of identities, Engineering and Product Design Educators can demonstrate their ongoing commitment to improvements in tuition for all students, of all ages, from all backgrounds and identities.
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