I am very pleased that four such distinguished editors have worked together to create this valuable Festschrift in honour of Professor Dai Hounsell. Dai has made profound contributions to research on university assessment and feedback, which have had a major impact both in Scotland and internationally. He has engaged in one-to-one conversation, he is a powerful speaker at conferences and his co-edited book, The Experience of Learning, as well as his book chapters, journal articles and commissioned guidebooks on assessment and feedback have all had great impact. His work has been distinguished by his clarity of thinking and careful and persistent concern with the student experience, which has enabled him to identify and illuminate best practice in support of the diversity of students who now study in universities. This Festschrift is a very fitting tribute to Dai's history of thoughtful and principled contributions to the theory and practice of assessment and feedback.

Assessment and feedback is one of the most important and demanding topics on the current higher education research agenda. As this book shows, the role of assessment has continued to morph and change and technological innovations have made new forms of feedback possible. I am particularly pleased to see Carolin Kreber's thoughtful chapter, which deals with the purposes of higher education, as well as the final two chapters, which draw directly on Dai's work and describe exciting technology-supported innovations in the design and implementation of new modes of assessment and feedback. All the chapters are valuable in different ways, and I warmly commend this book to all teachers and researchers concerned with university education.