Perceived control and instruction in the college classroom: Some implications for student achievement

Recent research suggests that loss of control by students interferes with the quality of instruction in the college classroom. The present study examined how four types of feedback affected perceived control and student achievement in different instruction settings. College students wrote an aptitude test which provided either contingent, low noncontingent failure, high noncontingent failure, or no-performance feedback. The amount of feedback was varied by modifying the length of the test: short, medium, long. The students then observed a videotaped lecture, presented by a low or high expressive instructor, and completed a postlecture achievement test. High noncontingent failure feedback reduced students' perceived control over their performance and created an external attribution profile. For expressive instruction, achievement deteriorated in accordance with the severity of students' uncontrollability. Implications are discussed regarding loss of control and effective instruction.Parts of this work were presented at the American Psychological Association annual meeting, Los Angeles, August 1981.     

The effects of internal feedback and self-compassion on the perception of negative feedback and post-feedback learning behavior

Negative feedback confronts learners with errors or failure but holds great learning potential. However, learners might perceive it as self-threatening, and thus react maladaptively. Feedback theories recommend prompting internal feedback prior to external feedback. And self-compassion is found to support adaptive reactions to failure. Thus, this study examined in a 2 × 2 factorial design the effects of prompting internal feedback or self-compassion, or both, on feedback perception and post-feedback learning behavior. Participants (N = 210) completed a brief difficult reasoning test and received failure feedback. Perceived acceptance and fairness of the feedback were higher in the internal feedback and self-compassion conditions compared to the control condition with no prompts. The intervention effects were higher for participants with high perceived competence and low trait self-compassion. No significant effects on post-feedback learning behavior were observed. The results highlight the relevance of internal feedback processes for feedback perception.     

Are success and failure experiences equally motivational? An investigation of regulatory focus and feedback

The present study extended regulatory focus theory (Idson & Higgins, 2000) to an educational setting and attempted to identify individuals with high motivation after both success and failure feedback. College students in Hong Kong (N = 180) participated in an experiment with a 2 promotion focus (high vs. low) × 2 prevention focus (high vs. low) × 2 feedback (success vs. failure) design. The results showed that after success feedback, the students with promotion focus were more motivated than their counterparts with prevention focus. This pattern was reversed after failure feedback. However, the results failed to show that students high in both regulatory focuses were motivated after success as well as failure feedback. The findings are discussed with reference to the literature on flexibility of regulatory focuses. Practical and theoretical implications of feedback are also discussed.     

A scholarly approach to solving the feedback dilemma in practice

It is clear from the literature that feedback is potentially the most powerful and potent part of the assessment cycle when it comes to improving further student learning. However, for some time, there has been a growing amount of research evidence that much feedback practice does not fulfil this potential to influence future student learning because it fails in a host of different ways. This dilemma of the disjuncture between theory and practice has been increasingly highlighted by the UK National Student Survey results. This paper uses a model of the assessment process cycle to frame understandings drawn from the literature, and argues that the problem with much current practice resides largely in a failure to effectively engage students with feedback. The paper goes on to explore how best to effectively engage students with assessment feedback, with evidenced examples of feedback strategies that have successfully overcome this problem.     

A scaffolded approach to Discussion Board use for formative assessment of academic writing skills

Mastery of academic writing skills remains one of the greatest challenges for university students, especially in the first year. Amongst the reasons offered for the challenges are lack of clarity about the university’s expectations and low levels of teacher feedback on work submitted, a failure to engage, and low levels of contact with teaching staff and other students. Academic staff are challenged by increased class numbers and increased student diversity in classes and university policies to adopt a wide range of information technologies into teaching modes. In this paper, we offer one attempt at addressing these three important contemporary academic challenges: use of information technology to provide timely feedback through formative assessment to help students with a range of abilities to acquire the academic writing skills necessary to succeed in higher education. Early indications show that students find this form of formative assessment very useful. They value the timely and focused feedback from the lecturer and are developing collegiality as they learn from each others’ writing and feedback. We believe that this strategy is sustainable and can be adapted to facilitate academic and social integration for students across many disciplines.     

Interpreting context to the UK’s National Student (Satisfaction) Survey data for science subjects

Universities capture and use student feedback to improve the student experience, but how should information from national scale surveys be used at local and institutional levels? The authors explored the UK’s National Student (Satisfaction) Survey (NSS) data relevant to science and engineering programmes using percentages of students who were satisfied or very satisfied. For brevity, one NSS national dataset was explored, but the patterns found were consistent for the following year. Simple exploratory data analysis techniques underlined the care that is needed when interpreting NSS outputs, corroborating previous research into its international precursors. Factor analysis supported claims of a high internal consistency of the survey. Subject groupings showed consistent differences in responses, with some subjects consistently recording higher satisfaction. This reduces the usefulness of the NSS for comparing different subject groupings within a university. Universities provide different subject compositions, so direct comparisons between institutions are not straightforward. Subject groupings should be compared only against similar subjects, and then with due care to understand the complexity of satisfaction. Further analysis of national questionnaires like this is required to contextualise its outputs. For example, there is a national trend of low satisfaction with assessment feedback in all subjects, but the relationship between feedback satisfaction and overall satisfaction is complex. There are marked differences between subjects which may, in science subjects, be associated with mathematical content. There is scope for future elucidations of the ‘overall satisfaction’ value and for use of the measures of dissatisfaction.     

The conundrum of low achievement and feedback for learning

Abstract

The literature on improving student engagement with assessment and feedback has a tendency to treat all students as if they are the same. Students with lower levels of attainment are generally under-represented within empirical studies and their feedback behaviours are less well understood. The recent drive to improve student assessment and feedback literacy and the move from ‘feedback’ being information about a task to being a process of understanding and using performance information is a larger conceptual leap for some students than others. In this paper, we consider issues surrounding the transition to new modes of feedback, focussing on what is needed for those who find study difficult and persistently are disappointed by their levels of attainment, to benefit from and take advantage of our feedback pedagogies. We examine literature advocating strategies such as increasing agency, using praise, developing feedback literacy and cultivating a growth mind-set. We argue that students who underachieve may benefit from strong relationships with educators and peers, exposure to feedback rich, low stakes environments, which permit repeated integrations of practice and feedback, and building feedback literacy through peer assessment activities.     

INCREASING TEACHER TREATMENT INTEGRITY THROUGH PERFORMANCE FEEDBACK PROVIDED BY SCHOOL PERSONNEL

When implementing behavioral interventions in educational settings, some implementers need support to maintain high levels of treatment integrity. Performance feedback has a large body of research supporting it as a strategy for improving teachers’ implementation of classroom interventions. However, in most prior studies, performance feedback has been delivered by a researcher, not by a school staff member, which limits generalizability of results to applied settings. In this study, school personnel (i.e., internal consultants) assessed teachers’ treatment integrity when implementing a classwide behavioral intervention and, when low, provided performance feedback. Further, researchers assessed internal consultants’ treatment integrity and provided performance feedback as needed. Results indicate that internal consultants are able to assess and briefly increase teachers’ treatment integrity with performance feedback, although some teachers needed more support than did others. Likewise, internal consultants’ treatment integrity was fairly high initially, but required consistent performance feedback to increase treatment integrity levels toward the end of the study. Implications for research and practice are discussed.     

Leadership and Education

In a previous article entitled, “Social Trends and Education” the writer pointed out that some clearly discernible social trends were setting increasingly important problems for the schools that were being given little attention. I n that discussion, one item was omitted because of space considerations, namely the growing trend toward the interdependence of all social and economic groups in our society. This trend seems to the writer to involve developing new techniques of social control in harmony with our democratic principles. The failure to recognize the implications of this trend and uneasiness on the part of some over the changes that perforce it is bringing about, seem to result in threats to our society which for several reasons leaders in and out of education are dodging. This raises the question as to the type of leadership called for, the education they should have and the goals toward which they may be expected to head. This article attempts briefly to discuss these matters.     

Learner-focused evaluation cycles: facilitating learning using feedforward,concurrent and feedback evaluation

There is a growing trend to offer students learning opportunities that are flexible, innovative and engaging. As educators embrace student-centred agile teaching and learning methodologies, which require continuous reflection and adaptation, the need to evaluate students’ learning in a timely manner has become more pressing. Conventional evaluation surveys currently dominate the evaluation landscape internationally, despite recognition that they are insufficient to effectively evaluate curriculum and teaching quality. Surveys often: (1) fail to address the issues for which educators need feedback, (2) constrain student voice, (3) have low response rates and (4) occur too late to benefit current students. Consequently, this paper explores principles of effective feedback to propose a framework for learner-focused evaluation. We apply a three-stage control model, involving feedforward, concurrent and feedback evaluation, to investigate the intersection of assessment and evaluation in agile learning environments. We conclude that learner-focused evaluation cycles can be used to guide action so that evaluation is not undertaken simply for the benefit of future offerings, but rather to benefit current students by allowing ‘real-time’ learning activities to be adapted in the moment. As a result, students become co-producers of learning and evaluation becomes a meaningful, responsive dialogue between students and their instructors.     

Differential effects of norm-referenced and self-referenced feedback on performance expectancies,attributions, and motivation

When feedback is provided to students in a norm-referenced manner that compares the individual's performance to that of others, people who perform poorly tend to attribute their failures to lack of ability, expect to perform poorly in the future, and demonstrate decreased motivation on subsequent tasks. The present study examined the hypothesis that the deleterious effects of failure might be attenuated when failure is expressed in self-referenced terms—relative to the individual's known level of ability as assessed by other measures. In this study, subjects received feedback indicating that they did well or poorly on an anagram test, and this feedback was described as either norm-referenced (comparing the individual's performance to that of others) or as self-referenced (comparing performance to other measures of the individual's ability). As predicted, compared to norm-referenced failure, self referenced feedback resulted in higher expectancies regarding future performance and increased attributions to effort. Contrary to expectations, attributions to ability were not affected. The implications of the results for the structure of academic feedback are discussed.     

对我省高校公共体育选修课网上选课之研究

通过对我省部分高校公共体育课网上选课不成功案例的调查分析，了解到目前选课工作中导致学生选课失败的普遍原因，经过科学分析和论证，发现在选课管理工作中科学计划、协调组织和反馈控制选课过程。可以降低选课失败率和提高体育课的教学效果。建议在网上选课管理工作中通过计划、协调和反馈控制选课工作全过程，有效降低选课失败率。     

高等学校英语应用能力考试的社会性调研

高等学校英语应用能力考试对我国高职院校公共英语教学反馈作用很小,考试的社会权重低,社会功能弱,考试亟需改革。在行业英语教学改革的背景下,用行业英语证书考试来代替高等学校英语应用能力考试将是必然的趋势。     

Collecting feedback on the quality of distance education: a follow‐up survey of China Central Radio and TV University graduates and their employers

Timely collection of feedback on the quality of teaching from graduates and their employers is of great significance in distance education, and can help enhance the quality of teaching and improve management and all‐round learner support. However, since the graduates left university some years ago, are now widely dispersed and consequently may have changed jobs various times, it becomes more difficult to collect feedback effectively at low cost, and it is even more challenging to establish a regular mechanism for collecting this feedback. This research was based on a follow‐up survey of 280,000 graduates, who graduated from China Central Radio and TV University (CCRTVU) between 2002 and 2004, and a sample of 3–5% of them who were participants for research through questionnaires and interviews. Their employers were also invited as participants. The research data covered the feedback collected on the open learning programmes offered by the CCRTVU, in terms of curriculum design, learning resources, learner support and the delivery and effectiveness of teaching. This in turn provided the basis for improving teaching and learner support. The successful conduct of the follow‐up survey and the effective use of its results have shown that the establishment of such a mechanism is significant in improving the quality of distance education. This article focuses on the establishment of a mechanism for large‐scale feedback and provides some insights into the development of the questionnaire, which will be discussed in more detail elsewhere.     

Goal orientation and achievement: the role of ability self-concept and failure perception

The prediction is tested that performance goals only entail poor achievement outcomes in individuals with a low self-concept of ability (American Psychologist, 41 (1986) 1040; Psychological Review, 95 (1988) 256). In agreement with Dweck, in three experimental studies participants with performance goals showed impaired performance only when their self-perceived ability was low. Contradictory to Dweck’s predictions, in study 2 this was true although participants were not confronted with failure feedback. Finally, study 3 indicated that individuals with low self-perceived ability considered their performance more often as failures when directed towards performance goals. The consideration of self-perceived ability might clarify and help resolve contradicting research findings about effects of motivational orientation on achievement.     

基于电控发动机氧传感器闭环反馈机制的研究

通过对电控汽油机燃油反馈系统中起关键作用的氧传感器的故障实验,在不同工作条件下,研究氧传感器正常工作或模拟失效时对汽油机的各项运行参数及排放物的影响。通过对实验结果的统计与分析,提出基于氧传感器的燃油反馈系统在电控汽油机不同运行阶段的控制方法和控制策略。     

谈教师对学生的反馈

教师对学生反馈是外语教学的重要环节之一。本文将首先从理论概念和现状两个角度对教师反馈这一重要问题进行探讨。作者对反馈内容提出建议,包括提供有信息含量的反馈,提供形成性反馈,提供真实的反馈,提供有价值的反馈,以及提供能促进合作学习的反馈。     

“低碳陷阱”现象的再认识

全球低碳经济潮流对我国的影响不容忽视。《京都议定书》面临失效,引起了国内部分学者和业界人士对现阶段低碳经济提法背后的"低碳陷阱"的警惕。从实际情况看,与"低碳陷阱"相比,"高碳陷阱"是我国面临的更现实的危机。低碳发展目标必须长期坚持,面对目前碳金融市场存在的不公平现象,我国应当积极采取应对措施。     

The effect of success or failure on self-efficacy and task persistence of conduct-disordered children

Twenty-four children with conduct disorders were familiarized with a pattern-matching task, and their self-efficacy expectations for this task were assessed. Subjects were then given either “Success” or “Failure” feedback for a series of similar problems, and their self-efficacy was reassessed. Finally, task persistence was evaluated by allowing subjects to attempt as many additional pattern-matching problems as they wished, with all subjects receiving failure feedback. Results indicated that, although the two groups of subjects were initially similar, the success group's self-efficacy was significantly higher following feedback. The success group also attempted significantly more problems while later receiving failure feedback, and there was a significant positive correlation between task persistence and the second self-efficacy rating. These findings were related to Bandura's self-efficacy theory and to educational programming for conduct-disordered children.     

数字双闭环直流调速控制系统硬件设计

在带电流截止环节的转速闭环调速系统中,由于转速和电流两种反馈信号都加到同一个调节器上,两者相互关联影响,很难调整调节器的参数,难以保证两种调节过程具有同样良好的动态性能.本设计采用ATMega8作为调速系统的主控制芯片,把转速和电流两种反馈信号分别进行调节控制,并将模拟系统转变为数字系统,实验结果显示本系统具有良好的快速性和跟踪效果.