Fostering achievement and motivation with bug-related tutoring feedback in a computer-based training for written subtraction

Most studies on feedback compare elaborated feedback types presenting knowledge on the correct response (KCR) immediately together with further information to simple feedback types providing knowledge of result (KR) or KCR. This study uses bug-related tutoring feedback (BRT-feedback) offering strategic information for error correction, but no immediate KCR. In a computer-based learning experiment with 50 fourth-grade pupils having learning difficulties in written subtraction, cognitive and motivational effects of this BRT-feedback algorithm were compared to the effects of a traditional KR–KCR-feedback algorithm. Results show that BRT-feedback is significantly more beneficial for achievement and motivation than KR–KCR-feedback.     

Feedback modes matter: Comparing student perceptions of digital and non-digital feedback modes in higher education

Assessment feedback is increasingly being provided in digital modes, from electronic annotations to digital recordings. Digitally recorded feedback is generally considered to be more detailed than text-based feedback. However, few studies have compared digital recordings with other common feedback modes, including non-digital forms such as face-to-face conversations. It is also unclear whether providing multiple feedback modes is better than a single mode. To explore these possibilities, an online survey asked 4514 Australian university students to rate the level of detail, personalisation and usability of the feedback comments they had most recently received. Of the students who received a single feedback mode only, electronic annotations and digital recordings were rated most highly on the three quality indicators. Students who received multiple modes were more likely to agree with all three indicators than those who received a single mode. Finally, students who received multiple modes were more likely to agree that the comments were detailed and usable when one of those modes was a digital recording. These findings enhance our understanding of feedback design, indicating that it is important to consider the strengths and weaknesses of particular modes, and the value of offering multiple modes.     

Characterisation of pre-service teachers' attitude to feedback in a wiki-environment framework

This is a two-phase research process in a wiki environment. The first phase explored (1) the significance of peer-feedback on students’ academic performance on a specific task in a wiki environment, (2) three types of peer-feedback and (3) students’ constraints on offering meaningful feedback to their peers. The objective of phase two was to determine the reasons why students refrain from peer-feedback. Significant correlation exists between the willingness to give feedback and the willingness to receive feedback. Significant correlation also exists between the difficulty of giving feedback and the difficulty of receiving feedback. Female students tend to consider feedback as the teacher's responsibility more than male students. Religious beliefs did not have any significant effect on any of the parameters tested. The results indicate that traditional students tend to be more conservative regarding feedback. There are worrying implications to pre-service teachers’ refraining from giving feedback.     

What changes,and for whom? A study of the impact of learning analytics-based process feedback in a large course

Recent developments in educational technologies have provided a viable solution to the challenges associated with scaling personalised feedback to students. However, there is currently little empirical evidence about the impact such scaled feedback has on student learning progress and study behaviour. This paper presents the findings of a study that looked at the impact of a learning analytics (LA)-based feedback system on students' self-regulated learning and academic achievement in a large, first-year undergraduate course. Using the COPES model of self-regulated learning (SRL), we analysed the learning operations of students, by way of log data from the learning management system and e-book, as well as the products of SRL, namely, performance on course assessments, from three years of course offerings. The latest course offering involved an intervention condition that made use of an educational technology to provide LA-based process feedback. Propensity score matching was employed to match a control group to the student cohort enrolled in the latest course offering, creating two equal-sized groups of students who received the feedback (the experimental group) and those who did not (the control group). Growth mixture modelling and mixed between-within ANOVA were also employed to identify differences in the patterns of online self-regulated learning operations over the course of the semester. The results showed that the experimental group showed significantly different patterns in their learning operations and performed better in terms of final grades. Moreover, there was no difference in the effect of feedback on final grades among students with different prior academic achievement scores, indicating that the LA-based feedback deployed in this course is able to support students’ learning, regardless of prior academic standing.     

Managing Stress and Feelings of Mastery among Swedish Comprehensive School Teachers

The purpose of this study was to create guidelines for stress management intervention by investigating the relationship of 12 factors with stress reactions (emotional exhaustion and irritation) and feelings of mastery among Swedish comprehensive school teachers. Data were collected via a questionnaire distributed to 928 teachers in 27 schools. The response rate was 89%. Multiple regressions were conducted on colleague support, cooperation, coordination problems, goal clarity, learning orientation, manager support, negative feedback, positive feedback, pupil misbehaviour, teacher age, work control and perceived work demands, all as independent variables. Perceived work demands was treated as a dependent variable in an additional regression analysis. Teacher stress reactions were best predicted by perceived work demands, pupil misbehaviour and negative feedback. Feelings of mastery were best predicted by learning orientation, positive feedback and goal clarity. In the additional analysis perceived work demands was best predicted by pupil misbehaviour, coordination problems and (low) work control. Practical implications are discussed.     

A comparison of peer and tutor feedback

We report on a study comparing peer feedback with feedback written by tutors on a large, undergraduate software engineering programming class. Feedback generated by peers is generally held to be of lower quality to feedback from experienced tutors, and this study sought to explore the extent and nature of this difference. We looked at how seriously peers undertook the reviewing task, differences in the level of detail in feedback comments and differences with respect to tone (whether comments were positive, negative or neutral, offered advice or addressed the author personally). Peer feedback was also compared by academic standing, and by gender. We found that, while tutors wrote longer comments than peers and gave more specific feedback, in other important respects (such as offering advice) the differences were not significant.     

社交网络使用对大学生孤独感的影响

为考察社交网络使用对大学生孤独感的影响及其内在机制,采用社交网络使用强度问卷、线上积极反馈问卷、社交焦虑量表和孤独感量表,对964名大学生进行调查。结果发现:(1)社交网络使用、线上积极反馈、社交焦虑和孤独感两两之间显著相关;(2)社交网络使用能通过线上积极反馈和社交焦虑的中介作用对孤独感产生影响,且该中介作用包含了三条路径:线上积极反馈的单独中介作用、社交焦虑的单独中介作用以及线上积极反馈和社交焦虑的链式中介作用。线上积极反馈和社交焦虑在社交网络使用预测大学生孤独感中起多重中介作用。本研究揭示了社交网络使用与孤独感的关系及其内在机制,深化了社交网络使用对个体心理健康影响的研究。     

Does the Use of Student Feedback Questionnaires Improve the Overall Quality of Teaching?

An investigation was conducted into 3- or 4-year departmental sets of student feedback questionnaire data from one university. Only four out of 25 departments had significant changes to any of the six dimensions in the 3- or 4-year period, and three of these significant changes were falls. There is, therefore, no evidence that the use of the questionnaire was making any contribution to improving the overall quality of teaching and learning of the departments, at least as perceived by the students. If it was, there should have been evidence of rising values. The following reasons why the use of the questionnaire might not have been conducive to improving teaching quality are discussed. The possibility that teaching quality is inherently stable is rejected. It is possible that feedback from the questionnaire was not used effectively. Related to this is whether instructors perceived that the university rewarded good teaching, so felt there was an incentive to make use of the feedback. The emphasis of the system was on appraisal, which might negate any developmental effect. The standard questionnaire and the associated procedures may have lacked flexibility and been inappropriate for innovative forms of teaching. The study questions whether student feedback questionnaires are utilising resources effectively if they are administered in an environment similar to the university in question, which appears reasonably typical.     

Mail Surveys of Professional Populations

Because virtually all published research on the effect of a monetary gratuity has been in the context of public opinion polling or market research by sampling nonprofessional populations, a randomized experiment was conducted in a mail survey of 507 professional school and public librarians. A random half (Group E) had $1.00 attached as a small token of appreciation for their cooperation. The conventional questionnaire methodology was employed for Group C. In the initial mailing, the gratuity had a powerful influence on the rate of return—80% vs. 59%. Indeed, the response rate with the gratuity for the first mailing (80%) was higher than that obtained for Group C with two mailings (74%). (No gratuity was included for either group in the second mailing.) The return rate for Group E increased to 86% following the second mailing, an unusually high return rate for a mail survey even among professional populations. Even though professional populations typically have much higher response rates than the general population, a $1.00 gratuity can have a substantial effect on increasing the return rate and, consequently, can strengthen the external validity of survey findings.     

Formative peer assessment in primary school: the effects of involving pupils in setting assessment criteria on their appraisal and feedback style

This experimental study is aimed at examining the effect of involving pupils in primary education in setting assessment criteria and standards on their appraisal of a peer’s work and their peer feedback style. It is expected that our intervention will lead to (1) a criteria-referenced appraisal and (2) more final vocabulary, which is associated with a more authoritative style. In total, 95 sixth grade pupils from The Netherlands were randomly assigned to one of two conditions. In the experimental group, the pupils first received an exemplar, which was followed by a group discussion about appropriate assessment criteria and standards. In the control group, the pupils provided peer feedback without this discussion. Their peer appraisal was measured with a questionnaire and feedback style was determined by analysing the written feedback using a person-oriented approach (cluster analysis). Results showed that the chance that pupils in the experimental group had an authoritative style was three times higher than in the control group. Theoretical and practical implications of the study are discussed.     

A comparative study of peer and teacher feedback and of various peer feedback forms in a secondary school writing curriculum

This study examines whether peer feedback can be a substitute for teacher feedback and which measures can be taken to improve its effectiveness. A pre‐test post‐test control group design examined the long‐term learning effects of individual peer feedback and of collective teacher feedback on writing assignments in secondary education. Moreover, it examined the added value of a priori question forms and a posteriori reply forms aimed at supporting the assessee's response to peer feedback. The study supports the ‘non‐inferiority’ hypothesis of there being no significant difference in students’ progress after plain substitutional peer feedback or teacher feedback. Both groups (plain peer feedback and teacher feedback), however, improved significantly less than the groups that worked with question or reply forms, confirming the added‐value of these forms. Almost half of the students found the received peer feedback helpful, but less than a quarter considered giving feedback an aid in their own learning process.     

Students' response to traditional and computer-assisted formative feedback: A comparative case study

The national movement towards progress files, incorporating personal development planning and reflective learning, is supported by lecturers providing effective feedback to their students. Recent technological advances mean that higher education tutors are no longer obliged to return comments in the ‘traditional’ manner, by annotating students' work with red pen. This paper considers some of the options currently available for returning computer‐assisted feedback, including the Electronic Feedback freeware. This MS Office application enables tutors to readily synthesise and email feedback reports to students. To further ascertain the value of this software, 169 1st‐year Pharmaceutical Science and Pharmacy students completed a questionnaire to gauge their reaction to formative feedback on an extended laboratory report. This included 110 responses from students graded by three tutors who marked work using either handwritten annotations or the Electronic Feedback program. Principle component analysis (PCA) of the Likert scale responses indicates that the identity of the marker did not significantly affect the response of students. However, the type of feedback was a factor that influenced the students' responses, with electronic feedback being rated superior. A Mann‐Whitney analysis of the satisfaction ratings (generated by PCA) indicates that four features of the assignment and feedback were considered significantly improved when the software was used to create feedback, namely; markscheme clarity, feedback legibility, information on deficient aspects, and identification of those parts of the work where the student did well. Modern academics face a number of challenges if they wish to return meaningful and timely feedback to students, among them large class sizes and infrequent face‐to‐face contact. It is pleasing to note, therefore, that assessors reported taking less time to mark when using the software. It is concluded that electronic formative feedback can be returned more quickly and may be used to synthesise relevant feedback that is both fair and balanced.     

Supporting learning from text: A meta-analysis on the timing and content of effective feedback

The aim of the present meta-analysis was to examine the effects of feedback on learning from text in conventional readers (ranging from primary school students to university students). Combining 104 contrasts of conditions of reading texts with and without feedback, including 6,124 participants, using the random effects model resulted in a positive effect of feedback on learning from text (g+ = 0.35). Moderator analyses showed that feedback is particularly effective if provided directly after reading, but less so when provided during reading. If feedback is provided directly after reading, elaborate feedback and knowledge-of-correct-response feedback were more effective than knowledge-of-response feedback. If feedback is provided during reading, no differences are found between the effects of different types of feedback. Additionally, computer-delivered feedback is more beneficial for learning from text than non-computer-delivered feedback. Implications for optimizing conditions to support learning from text are discussed.     

An interaction of screen colour and lesson task in CAL

Colour is a common feature in computer‐aided learning (CAL), though the instructional effects of screen colour are not well understood. This investigation considers the effects of different CAL study tasks with feedback on posttest performance and on posttest memory of the lesson colour scheme. Graduate students (n=68) completed a computer‐based vocabulary lesson that included either multiple‐choice or constructed‐response study tasks with feedback. Each lesson section used a different colour theme, while the posttest did not use colour. The constructed‐response study task was a little more effective for posttest memory of lesson content but was substantially less effective for posttest memory of the lesson colour scheme. These results show a clear interaction of screen colour and lesson study task, a memory‐context effect. The practical and theoretical implications of these findings are discussed.     

Trait anxiety and final degree performance at the University of Oxford

A questionnaire was administered to 1,929 applicants to Oxford University, including measures of trait anxiety, behavioural response to examinations and to breakdown in relationships. 635 of these applicants were admitted to the university and of these, 383 also responded to a questionnaire administered 4 years later, just before their final examinations. The classification (first, upper and lower second, third class) and marks in the final examinations were obtained and the relationship between the personality measures and academic performance were calculated. Women showed higher anxiety scores than men at both times of testing. Women who obtained the best (first class) degrees scored significantly higher on anxiety than those who performed less well. In contrast, there was no such difference in men. Explanations for anxiety having a facilitatory effect on academic performance of women at Oxford University are proposed.     

基于自动词频的网页索引算法

引入一种新的基于词频的数据自动检索网页的模型,它结合Web页面使用了全新的特征词汇提取公式,在保持精确率的情况下同时获得较高回现率,为精确描述Web页面提供了依据.同时该模型还能减少检索中存在的一致性的问题,简化Web页面索引维护工作量.     

Effects of social persuasion from parents and teachers on Chinese students’ self-efficacy: an exploratory study

This study compared the effects of social persuasion from parents and teachers on students’ self-efficacy in reading comprehension in English as a foreign language. Ninety-nine Grade 8 Chinese students in a secondary school in Hong Kong completed a questionnaire with six scenarios which tapped their self-efficacy after receiving positive and negative feedback that were described as coming from their teacher, mother and father. Students decreased their self-efficacy after receiving negative feedback and the source of feedback did not make a statistically significant difference. Conversely, positive feedback led to an increase in self-efficacy with the mother’s positive feedback leading to a higher increase in self-efficacy than feedback from the teacher and the father. No statistically significant difference was noted in the change in self-efficacy after receiving feedback from the father and the teacher. Parents and teachers should increase the use of positive feedback and decrease that of negative feedback. Implications for collaboration between teachers and parents in providing positive feedback on students’ academic performance were discussed.     

形成性网络考试与大学英语自我调节学习——不同成绩报道形式对自我调节学习的影响

项目研究基于网络考试中的形成性评价与反馈机制,设计出一种新型大学英语网考成绩报道单,既告知考生总分,又提供各题型的分数和百分位,以及相应的自我调节策略反馈。新的成绩报道形式以结构方程模型分析得出的认知调节策略使用与各题型成绩间的关系为基础,辅之以定性访谈分析为补充。结果表明,新型网考成绩报道形式较之传统的总分报道形式能更有效地促进学生的英语自我调节学习。     

Social acceptance of students with Down syndrome and students without disability

We investigated the influence of teacher feedback on the social acceptance of peers with intellectual disabilities and peers without disabilities. A computer task was administered to 601 students in grades 3 and 4. Twenty-six per cent of the students attend an inclusive school; the others are in regular schools without students with special educational needs. Participants are introduced to ‘new’ virtual classmates, one student with Down syndrome (DS), and one control student with no obvious disability. Additionally, teacher feedback and feedback about fun playing with the new classmates is given. Social acceptance is evaluated by asking if one would like to sit next to him/her. Both feedbacks showed a strong effect. The child with DS was less socially accepted than the child without disability. No difference regarding the social acceptance of the students with DS was found between students from inclusive and regular classes. Students from regular classes rate the social acceptance of the student without disabilities significantly higher than students from inclusive classrooms.     

上级反馈对公务员组织公民行为的影响机制研究

文章是基于对北京市六家政府机关219名普通公务员进行的问卷调查分析,通过层次回归分析的方法考察了上级反馈对公务员组织公民行为各维度的作用机制。研究结果发现,在控制了人口统计学变量和工作反馈之后,上级反馈对帮助行为和谏言行为有显著正向预测作用。进一步的中介作用分析结果表明,工作投入和工作倦怠在上级反馈与帮助行为中具有完全中介作用,工作投入在上级反馈与谏言行为中具有部分中介作用。研究结果表明,上级反馈是促进公务员组织公民行为的重要因素。