The internalisation of feedback and its relationship with students' ability to self-regulate their learning remains a significant challenge in educational research. While self-regulation is crucial for lifelong learning, understanding how students internalise feedback and use it to regulate their learning is still largely unexplored (Lui & Andrade, 2022). This process is essential for developing the competence to "learn to learn,". Despite the growing body of research on formative assessment, the specific role of “internal feedback” (Nicol, 2020) in fostering self-regulation remains a "black box" (Lui & Andrade, 2022), requiring further exploration to improve educational practices.

This paper outlines the design and validation of an instrument to identify key factors influencing the internalisation of feedback for self-regulated learning. The development of this instrument is part of a broader research project titled EFICCA3 (EDU145/23/000013). EFICCA3 focuses on secondary education and seeks to identify and analyse practices of internal feedback promoting students' self-regulation, in order to share characteristics and good practices and to design educational proposals that encourage the transfer of these experiences to further schools.

The design and validation of the instrument were carried out in two stages:
An initial checklist was developed based on a literature review, which identified essential characteristics of internal feedback and formative assessment for student self-regulation.
The initial 16 items underwent external evaluation by an expert to confirm their validity. The validation process followed a qualitative methodology, focussing on internal consistency, temporal stability, and the coherence of the tool. Based on the feedback provided by the expert, several items were revised, one item was split into two, and an additional item was added, resulting in a final version with 18 items.

The checklist was administered via a form requesting additional information from respondents regarding their participation in teaching innovation projects over the past 3 years and allowing them to upload supplementary materials. The form was sent in October 2024 to 90 public and 10 private secondary schools in Catalonia. These schools were intentionally selected based on 3 criteria: participation in innovation programs related to assessment practices, publication of related experiences in education magazines, and expert recommendations. 12 schools were invited to participate further in the project as national case studies; 2 declined. The 10 case studies, including study visits at the schools, teacher interviews and the co-design of didactic materials, were conducted from January to March 2025.

The findings from EFICCA3 confirm that the checklist offers an efficient, systematic way to select successful case studies for in-depth research, particularly in secondary school settings. Ultimately, the development and use of this checklist can contribute to a deeper understanding of how internal feedback supports self-regulation in students, providing evidence-based insights for the design of educational interventions that promote this vital skill. This tool not only aids in the current research but also provides a foundation for further studies, enabling comparisons between regions, schools, and educational systems. Moreover, it can inspire practitioners to reflect on and improve their feedback practices.

Keywords: Checklist, feedback, self-regulated learning, secondary education, Catalonia.