In this paper, the authors describe how a study of a large database of written university teacher feedback in the department of Industrial Design led to the development of a new conceptual framework for feedback and the design of a new feedback tool. This paper focuses on the translation of related work in the area of feedback mechanisms for higher education into a tailored framework for feedback in the area of Industrial Design, the translation of the existing corpus of data into indicators of feedback quality and how feedback is received and further on used by students in their learning process. The newly developed tool structures teacher feedback into very targeted and highly focused feedback dialogues between teacher and individual students tailored to their individual learning process. The tool is described in this paper with respect to conversational aspects. In the future, the tool will be used actively in Industrial Design education, also with the purpose of further investigating how the quality of written feedback evolves and redesigning educational processes around feedback tools.

The purpose of this study is to determine what good coaching during design-based learning (DBL) entails by integrating theoretical and practical perspectives on good coaching. For this purpose, a grounded theory approach was used. For the practical perspective, themes on good coaching were derived from a qualitative study on coaching by observing and interviewing teachers and students involved in a DBL project. For the theoretical perspective, we consulted and analyzed literature on scaffolding, feedback, and formative assessment and coaching in problem-based learning from the learning sciences and the studio model from arts and design literature. Synthesizing themes from both perspectives led to the development of a theoretical coaching model consisting of three main categories (and four subcategories), seventeen themes and thirteen propositions. The model and propositions might be of use for those involved in coaching students in DBL and provide relevant directions for research on coaching in DBL.

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