About Process Feedback
How Process Feedback started, the research behind it, and our principles
Grounded in research
Process Feedback was conceived by Dr. Badri Adhikari in January 2023, when generative AI began rapidly entering classrooms. The project was soon featured in UMSL Daily News and Missouri Online.
In September 2023 the first peer-reviewed paper on Process Feedback was published in Education Sciences. The research behind Process Feedback continues to evolve, with ongoing studies exploring its impact on student writing, learning, and academic integrity.
From computer programming to writing
The earliest version of Process Feedback was designed to visualize students’ coding processes for students in the Computer Science Department at the University of Missouri–St. Louis.
Within months, it became clear that the same process-oriented insights were just as valuable for writing. English composition teachers helped test early versions, and within three months a working prototype for exploring the writing process was also developed.
After pilot studies across multiple universities in Missouri and Arkansas in Fall 2023, a revised platform launched in January 2024. Throughout 2024 and 2025, contributions from researchers, freelancers, and volunteers continued to expand the tool.
In 2026, Process Feedback began offering institutional integrations for institutions that require LMS connectivity and administrative support.
Reflection over policing
Process Feedback is sometimes framed solely as an academic integrity tool. That was never the only core vision.
Our goal is to help students reflect on how they work. Reflection strengthens learning far more reliably than surveillance ever could.
Students who engage with their own process develop stronger metacognitive skills, learn to self-assess, and become more intentional about how they use emerging technologies (including AI).
We believe our education practices should focus not only on outcomes, but also on how learners arrive there.
What kind of organization we are
Process Feedback LLC is a social-purpose for-profit education technology company.
Our model is simple:
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Individual teachers and students use Process Feedback at no cost -
Institutions fund organizational needs such as LMS integration, compliance documentation, and support.
Why a .org domain? While we are registered as a for-profit LLC to allow sustainable operations and institutional partnerships, our primary focus is educational impact rather than monetizing individual teachers or students. We chose a .org domain to reflect that focus: the platform exists first to support teaching and learning.
Our guiding principles
Our mission is to improve students' reflective thinking. The following principles guide our decisions, including what data we collect and how the platform is designed and accessed:
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User data should be collected only when necessary, and when collected, it must be protected with the highest priority. -
Students and teachers should be able to use core features without creating an account. -
Core tools and features should be available to individual teachers and students for free. -
Our tools should behave consistently and predictably, so teachers and students can focus on learning rather than figuring out the interface.
Open by design
Whenever possible, our content is released under copyleft terms to encourage reuse and collaboration across the education community. Learning tools improve when we are free to build on each other’s work.