María Fernández-Toro

Are the principles of effective feedback transferable across disciplines? A comparative study of written assignment feedback in Languages and Technology

This paper describes an investigation into the written feedback provided by tutors on Language assignments, together with students’ responses to it. The study replicates a previous study of assignment feedback in Technology, in order to determine the extent to which the characteristics underlying common feedback practice and students’ perceptions of effective feedback vary according to discipline. Drawing on two Spanish modules, the researchers analysed over 4000 feedback comments on 72 scripts, identifying their category and depth in accordance with the classification used in the Technology study. With regard to categories, it was found that Language tutors’ comments related more to skills development than to content, the opposite tendency to that observed in Technology. With regard to depth, corrections formed a lower proportion of Language tutors’ comments, but the proportions indicating errors and providing explanations were both greater than in Technology. This analysis was followed by interviews with 20 of the students whose assignment feedback had been analysed. The differences and similarities between the ways feedback is perceived by students of Languages and Technology are discussed. The authors conclude that a methodological approach involving cross-subject replication is a powerful means of uncovering subject-specific assumptions on assignment feedback.

Feedback on feedback: eliciting learners’ responses to written feedback through student-generated screencasts

Despite the potential benefits of assignment feedback, learners often fail to use it effectively. This study examines the ways in which adult distance learners engage with written feedback on one of their assignments. Participants were 10 undergraduates studying Spanish at the Open University, UK. Their responses to feedback were elicited by means of student-generated screencast (Jing®) recordings in which students talked through the feedback written by their tutors. The recordings were analysed in terms of the students’ cognitive, affective and metacognitive responses to the tutors’ feedback. Results show that, while students do engage with tutor feedback and make active efforts to integrate it, they sometimes use ineffective strategies, especially when tutor and student make different assumptions about the role of feedback. The richness of the data obtained from the Feedback on feedback (F on F) method suggests that it has the potential to promote much needed feedback dialogue between students and tutors.

A model of factors affecting independent learners’ engagement with feedback on language learning tasks

In independent learning contexts, the effectiveness of the feedback dialogue between student and tutor or, in the absence of a tutor, the quality of the learning materials, is essential to successful learning. Using the voices of participants as the prime source of data through a combination of data-driven and concept-driven approaches, this investigation attempts to gain deeper insights into the dynamics of the learning process as students express emotional reactions to the learning environment and in particular the written feedback from their tutors and the learning materials. To account for the different ways in which adult learners studying independently engage both cognitively and emotionally with external feedback, we propose a model based on four key drivers: goal relevance, knowledge, self-confidence, and roles. We conclude that only when these key drivers are aligned with each other can learners in independent settings engage with external feedback and learn from it.

Using screencasts in the teaching of modern languages: investigating the use of Jing® in feedback on written assignments

ABSTRACT Written assessment – in both its senses as assessment of student writing and as written feedback on the task – is an essential part of the learning journey in foreign language learning; and at our distance-learning institution it is one of the main teaching strategies in the communication between tutors and students. In this research project, we investigated how error correction and written feedback could be augmented by adding personalised screencasts to these traditional approaches to teaching through assessment. Students and tutors on Spanish and German modules ranging from Beginners to Upper Intermediate Level participated in evaluating the screencasting software, Jing®, in terms of its clarity, accessibility and affective impact. The data collected includes questionnaire feedback from tutors on their experience of the tool and their opinion of it, questionnaire and interview feedback from students on receiving visual and auditory commentary on their assignments, a comparison between the feedback provided by the same tutors on the same assignment with and without screencasting and a follow-up questionnaire to tutors investigating their current use of screencasting beyond the project. Both students and tutors responded positively to the tool, finding that it enhanced the sense of tutor presence and facilitated communication of the tone of feedback: hearing the tutors voice explaining the corrections or recommendations for improvement onscreen led to increased affective engagement on the part of the student. Explanations were found to be clear and memorable.

Evaluating alignment of student and tutor perspectives on feedback on language learning assignments

ABSTRACT Feedback alignment is key to the effectiveness of formative feedback, but often tutors can only guess whether their feedback is consistent with students’ needs and expectations. This study aimed to identify areas of potential misalignment by bringing together self-reported data and feedback analysis. Two parallel surveys were conducted with 736 students and 96 tutors from a distance learning undergraduate programme in Language Studies to compare their self-reported attitudes and behaviours. Survey data were then triangulated through the analysis of 216 marked assignments using the feedback analysis categorisation tool (FACT) according to the orientation (focus on a weakness or a strength) and depth (layers of scaffolding) of feedback comments. Misalignment was most apparent in relation to feedback on strengths and mutual assumptions regarding feedback ownership. The findings support the need for a more dialogic approach to feedback and confirm the value of feedback analysis as a means of evaluating feedback alignment for sustainable assessment.