Dr Nadia Wager

1
Feedback Marathon

• Dr Nadia Wager
• Principal Lecturer in Criminological Psychology
• and
• Portfolio Leader in Psychology and Sociology

2
30 of Students Ignore the Feedback. Why?

• Strategic learning style
• Feedback lacks clarity and direction
• Leaves some students confused and feeling
  helpless
• Emotional inhibition
• Good grade motivated to maintain a positive
  mood
• Low grade unable to tolerate further assaults in
  self-esteem

3
Positive emotions Three themes

• motivating and empowering experiences
• confirmation
• experience of conflicting emotions

4
Motivating and empowering experiences

• 42.3 of the positive experiences
• Made me feel positive for future assignments as
  it gave me something to work towards and improve
  upon.
• Really pleased that I received positive feedback
  chuffed and felt like Id got more confidence
  to do it again.
• It helped me understand better how to improve my
  grade and made me feel more confident.
• It made me feel great and excited.

5
Confirmation

• 27 of the positive experiences
• Reassured
• Relieved
• Very good. I knew exactly what my lecturer was
  looking for.
• Proud of the mark considering I had put the
  effort in
• Happy that it passed

6
The duality of emotions

• Good, but I was also annoyed (with myself)
  because some of the feedback related to things I
  should have done, but I just forgot to do.
• I was disappointed with the mark, but the
  feedback was good because it told me how to
  improve and where I went wrong
• I felt happy with the positive comments and low
  with the negative ones

7
Negative Emotions

• 3(43) referred to a sense of disappointment,
• 2 (28.6) related a sense of unjust accusations,
• 1 (14.3) describes a diminution in self-worth
• 1 (14.3) describes a loss in confidence.

8
Unjust accusations

• Down and like my work wasnt good enough,
  although I had worked hard. Also some wasnt
  accurate so the teacher hadnt read my work
  properly.
• Upset and frustrated, I was accused of sticking
  too close to the text when I feel that was not
  the case.
• Worthless - Very disappointed with the grade and
  the manner in which the lecturer addressed my
  work made me feel worthless.

9
Feeling okaybut confused

• A bit confused, but overall okay.
• It made me feel okay as it was very detailed but
  straight to the point.
• Okay, the content was positive and well written,
  but I would have liked to have known how to
  improve further.

10
What was good about the good feedback?

• All 47 reported having experienced good feedback
• 7 themes emerged from the responses
• positive encouragement highlighting areas for
  improvement 28.6
• offering guidance on how to improve - 25.7
• writing with a future rather than a past
  orientation -20
• clarity of both expectations expressed by
  lecturers and the wording of the feedback
• opportunity to discuss the feedback with the
  lecturer.
• confirmation of success

11
The importance of clear directive guidance

• It gave direction for the future, i.e. what was
  wrong and how to change it.
• Telling me my mistakes and how to improve on them
  for my next coursework.

12
Less Favourable Experiences of Feedback

• 15 of the sample claimed that they had never
  received bad feedback!!!!
• 3 themes emerged
• the lack of direction for improvement -23
• the lack of detail 23
• the perception of being insulted 12.8

13
Lack of direction for improvement

• The feedback said that some points were wrong,
  but it didnt give an explanation for how to
  improve.
• Where I felt I had put a great deal of effort
  into the work but was only told that I didnt
  answer the question, with no indication of where
  I went wrong.

14
Perceived Insults

• It only contained criticism so I didnt benefit
  from it.
• The lecturer was rude to me. To the point of
  giving me no positive feedback for my work only,
  negative.
• Feedback that insinuates that because the level
  of work was good the student must have copied the
  text.
• It was bad because it didnt motivate me to work
  harder. Also because it put down my work.
• It was a bit humiliating, not enough
• detail for improvement.

15
How did the good feedback help you?

• 3 super-ordinate themes
• Empowerment 58.7
• reassurance 8.7
• confidence building 15.2

16
Empowerment and taking responsibility for own
improvement

• It motivated me to improve myself.
• Enabled me to see what I needed to do on future
  assignments.
• It means that I know what to look for in my work
  that could be improved.
• It encouraged me to do more independent research
  for my exams.
• Better understanding. It woke me up and made me
  want to work much harder.

17
Confidence Building

• It gave me confidence, as I wasnt sure how well
  my writing skills were due to the original
  feedback I had previously received. It made me
  feel that I wasnt as bad as I had originally
  thought.
• It improved my confidence because I can actually
  do the assignments.
• It boosted my self-esteem and made me what to
  work harder to keep up the standard.

18
Reassurance

• It meant that I am able to keep up with what I am
  doing right.
• It pointed out that what I am doing is right.
• It motivated me to continue with my style of
  writing and essay structure.

19
Bad feedback did it hinder you???

• 22 did not believe that their experience of bad
  feed back had any negative impact on them
• 5.5 felt it had made them work harder
• 72.3 felt it had hindered their progress in some
  way majority referred to the lack of guidance
  given and the consequent sense of helplessness

20
Lack of guidance

• If Id been given ideas on how to improve I could
  have understood where I had gone wrong.
• I couldnt see where mistakes were made
• Yes, because I only know where I got it right and
  where I went wrong, but not why and how to
  improve. I dont know what made the good areas
  good.

21
Others reported more extreme and enduring effects

• It made me feel really crap and I didnt want to
  continue. It affected me quite badly.
• Yes it reduced my confidence entirely. It made
  me reluctant to start my dissertation as I felt I
  could not write cohesively in an academic manner.
  This slowed the process of writing my
  dissertation and confidence that I could do it
  right.
• I was left feeling very negative about the tutor,
  my course and the experience.

22

• I wasnt confident or comfortable handing in work
  to this lecturer again.
• Felt low for days.
• Felt slightly de-motivated when it came to
  writing the next assignment.
• De-motivated me to work hard for this subject.
• It made me feel that I wasnt capable of
  achieving.

23
The experimental study

• An experimental study of student emotions,
  attitudes and anticipated behavioural responses
  on receiving fictitious feedback.
• 2 independent variables were manipulated in the
  study
• To whom the feedback is directed - 2 conditions
• addressed to the author and written in the past
  tense
• written to the assignment and written in the
  future tense.
• Whether or not guidance as to how to improve
  statements were provided.
• Thus four different variants of the stimulus
  material.
• Age was entered as a covariate

24
Example of feedback written addressing the
assignment with a future orientation

• All sources used were appropriate for this
  assignment however, remember to use original
  journal articles and some of the key texts
  highlighted on the reading list.
• Many of the key arguments have been identified,
  although inclusion of one or two more may be
  beneficial .
• Clear referencing in the text, appropriate use of
  the Harvard system, just remember to be
  particular about the use of punctuation.

25
Same comments directed at the author and in the
past tense

• You have selected appropriate sources, but the
  range is a little narrow.
• You have missed a few of the key arguments.
• Your referencing in the text was largely okay,
  however, your punctuation in relation to
  referencing was incorrect.

26
Behavioural Responses

• Four factors/ subscales
• De-motivated inaction
• Seeking clarification
• Empowered action
• Disbelief in the feedback

27
Results

• Both of the independent variables produced
  results that attained a level of significance.
• The presence or absence of how to improve
  suggestions
• Whether the feedback was addressed to the
  assignment or the author

28
Main effect of how to improve suggestions

• Only two of the dependent variables attained a
  borderline level of significance.
• Firstly, the inclusion of how to improve
  suggestions was associated with an almost
  statistically significant higher score on
  favourable attitudes towards the feedback in
  comparison to when these suggestions were omitted
• Those who did not receive the how to improve
  suggestions were more inclined to report
  de-motivated inaction in comparison to students
  who were presented with such suggestions

29
(No Transcript)
30
(No Transcript)
31
Main effects of to whom the feedback is
addressed (i.e. author or assignment)

• Addressing the feedback to the author and writing
  it in the past tense was associated with
• significantly less positive affect
• and higher levels of negative affect in
  comparison to when the feedback is written to the
  assignment and in the future tense
• No significant interaction effect was observed
  for the two independent variables.

32
(No Transcript)
33
(No Transcript)
34
Conclusions

• The how to improve suggestions appear to impact
  upon attitudes and intended behaviour and thus we
  can imagine would be directly related to whether
  or the students attempt to use the information.
  It is proposed that the how to improve statements
  may actually enhance self-efficacy.
• Addressing the feedback directly to the author,
  particularly in the context were either the mark
  is poor or there are significant areas for
  improvement can have a detrimental impact on the
  student which may erode self-esteem and
  confidence.

35
Solution.

• Therefore need to make it emotionally palatable
• Unambiguous
• Directed at the assignment
• Written with a future orientation
• Offering a clear understanding of strengths and
  weaknesses
• Offering guidance on how to improve
• Demonstrating civility
• Equalising perceived power differences
  establishing a partnership in dialogue

36
Good practice according to the literature

• Language
• avoid final vocabulary, e.g. good, right or
  poor - does not permit change or repetition
• Use formative rather than summative language,
  e.g. do, dont and how rather than did, didnt
  and why - gives direction for improvement
• Focus of Feedback
• comment on the essay and not the author (unless
  you want to say how great something is)
• Boud power differences between lecturer and
  student acknowledge our own subjectivity