Exploring GenAI in assessment and feedback

Insights from postcards of practice

Abstract

As Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) rapidly enters higher education, its implications for assessment and feedback require urgent, practice-informed exploration. This study investigates how educators at UNSW - a large Australian university - are engaging with GenAI in their teaching, drawing on data from the institution’s "Postcards of Practice" initiative; a short, reflective narratives of GenAI use in assessment contexts. Through a qualitative interpretive methodology, including thematic analysis of interviews and postcard content, the research explores educators’ experiences, comfort levels, perceived challenges, and support needs. Findings are expected to reveal diverse levels of GenAI adoption shaped by disciplinary context, ethical concerns, and usability perceptions. The study also anticipates a strong call for targeted professional development, institutional guidance, and customisable GenAI tools. This research foregrounds educators’ micro-level decision-making to contribute to the growing body of work on formative assessment, feedback literacy, and ethical AI integration. It positions GenAI not as a threat, but as an opportunity to reimagine assessment as a dialogic, developmental process.