ORIGINAL PAPER A Participatory Action Research Study on Handwritten Annotation Feedback and Its Impact on Staff and Students Elaine Ball Published online: 13 January 2009 Ó Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2009 Abstract Annotation was introduced to a United Kingdom (UK) School of Nursing following an institutional audit within a UK University. Handwritten annotation (writing in the margins of student assignments) was introduced to the grading procedure to enhance the quality of student feedback and learning. Once in practice, annotation could be examined and an action research study facilitated the process. Post-qualifying essay scripts were examined for styles of annotation to identify its strengths and weaknesses. Five staff participated in action research to examine staff perceptions of annotation. Findings showed that words or telegraphic signs that stand alone in the margins of a student essay can be seen as abstract signs to the novitiate reader and need contextualising. If there is a negative tone in the markers’ annotation it can be detected by the student and interpreted as unhelpful or disparaging. There are a number of ways of improving annotation, and good practice guidelines are offered in the conclusion to this paper. Keywords Participatory action research Á Annotation Á Student feedback Á Transformative experience Introduction Assessment and feedback is an essential component of all Higher Education teaching (Brown et al. 1997). It is employed to guide and lead the student along a trajectory whereby learning and skill acquisition can occur and be identified (Hyland 2000). There are many feedback styles to suit course content, assessment and context and all are used to relay information back to the student to facilitate understanding and progress. All feedback depends on engaging with the student’s work and, indeed, none more so than handwritten annotation which interacts directly with the student’s work on the page. The very func- tionality of annotation (or marginalia) is to create a reading apparatus for the student who is both seeking meaning and a ready reference for when assignments are returned with E. Ball (&) School of Nursing, University of Salford, Frederick Road, Salford, Greater Manchester, UK e-mail: e.ball1@salford.ac.uk 123 Syst Pract Action Res (2009) 22:111–124 DOI 10.1007/s11213-008-9116-6