Delaying elaborated feedback within computer-based learning environments: The role of summative and question-based feedback

Elaborative feedback (EF) containing explanations on students' responses benefits learning. Computer-based environments provide learners with EF in different ways, for example, on an immediate question-by-question basis or after answering a set of questions. Recent findings also suggest that delaying EF enhances learning. However, it is unclear to what extent different types of delayed-EF favour students' performance. This study examines whether and how two types of delayed-EF (question-based vs. summative) influence students' question-answering performance and final learning over immediate-EF. One hundred thirty-three secondary-school students read a scientific text and answered 12 multiple-choice questions in a computer-based environment. A day later, students completed a final learning test with 20 open-ended questions. Results showed that neither question-based delayed EF nor summative delayed EF outperformed immediate EF. However, EF moderated the relationship between students' prior knowledge and their performance outcomes, suggesting that students with higher levels of prior knowledge receiving summative delayed EF benefited more.     

Using track changes and word processor to provide corrective feedback to learners in writing

This study investigated the effect of computer‐mediated corrective feedback types in an English as a foreign language (EFL) intact class over time. The participants were 64 English majors who were assigned randomly into three treatment conditions that gave and received computer‐mediated corrective feedback while writing (track changes, word processor, and track changes and word processor) and one control group that neither gave nor received writing corrective feedback. Students sat to a pre‐test (week 1), immediate post‐test (week 8) and delayed post‐test (week 12) in writing. Results showed decrease in mean error and mean feedback in students' writing performance related to correcting 11 major error types on immediate and delayed post‐tests, indicating that there was a significant effect for feedback type in favour of the group that used a combination of track changes and word processor. There was also a significant effect for the computer‐mediated corrective feedback over the control group. Moreover, results showed that both mean error and mean feedback decreased significantly from pre‐test to post‐test (week 1–week 8), indicating that overall, there was a significant change over time.     

The impact of computer-mediated immediate feedback on developing oral presentation skills: An exploratory study in virtual reality

Feedback plays a central role in learning. Crucial to this is the nature and timing of the feedback. This experimental study explores the efficacy of immediate computer-mediated feedback within a virtual reality environment designed to facilitate the development of pre-university students' presentation skills. Two conditions were established to assess the efficacy: immediate computer-mediated feedback; a control condition of delayed expert-mediated feedback. Results showed improvement but no statistically relevant difference in performance gains between the two conditions, suggesting both can facilitate learning. Furthermore, students perceived the environment to be an effective and motivating platform in which to practise presentation skills. For educators seeking viable alternatives to face-to-face presentation practice and feedback, the finding that immediate computer-mediated feedback is potentially as effective in aiding presentation performance is crucial for two reasons: first, it expands practice opportunities for students; second, it could result in less pressure on resources, including time and staffing.     

Effects of feedback in a computer-based assessment for learning

The effects of written feedback in a computer-based assessment for learning on students’ learning outcomes were investigated in an experiment at a Higher Education institute in the Netherlands. Students were randomly assigned to three groups, and were subjected to an assessment for learning with different kinds of feedback. These are immediate knowledge of correct response (KCR) + elaborated feedback (EF), delayed KCR + EF, and delayed knowledge of results (KR). A summative assessment was used as a post-test. No significant effect was found for the feedback condition on student achievement on the post-test. Results suggest that students paid more attention to immediate than to delayed feedback. Furthermore, the time spent reading feedback was positively influenced by students’ attitude and motivation. Students perceived immediate KCR + EF feedback to be more useful for learning than KR. Students also had a more positive attitude towards feedback in a CBA when they received KCR + EF rather than KR only.     

Formative feedback to transfer self‐regulation of task‐oriented reading strategies

The study includes two experiments to analyse the effects of automatic formative feedback designed to promote the transfer of self‐regulation of strategic decisions in task‐oriented reading (e.g. answering questions from an available text). Secondary‐school students read and answered multiple‐choice comprehension questions from two texts having them available while receiving consistent feedback about their performance and strategic decisions. Then, they read a different text and answered questions also with the text available, but receiving no feedback. In Experiment 1, we tested two feedback procedures that differed in task conditions and the feedback information associated to these conditions. The most effective was a procedure that forced students to select relevant text information to answer each question and provided accurate feedback based on that selection. Experiment 2 was designed to disentangle the role played by the selection task from that played by the feedback provided. We found that the two components contribute to transfer the self‐regulation strategies, although each one has a specific role for different strategies. Theoretical and practical implications of the studies are discussed.     

Extending multimedia research: How do prerequisite knowledge and reading comprehension affect learning from text and pictures

The present study aimed at extending research on multimedia design principles by investigating their validity as a function of learners’ reading comprehension and scientific literacy. Students (N = 125; age: M = 15.11 years) learned about cell reproduction during their regular Biology lessons in one of six conditions resulting from cross-varying multimedia (text only vs. text plus animations) and text modality (spoken vs. written vs. spoken and written). Recall and transfer were assessed immediately after learning and again 1 week later. Overall, adding animations to text as well as using spoken rather than written text improved only immediate recall; in addition, a multimedia effect for delayed recall was observed for learners with higher levels of scientific literacy. A redundant presentation of text proved harmful especially for delayed performance measures. Reading comprehension did not moderate multimedia design effects. Students with more suitable cognitive prerequisites were better able to maintain performance from the immediate to the delayed tests. Future multimedia research should further investigate the boundary conditions that moderate multimedia effectiveness.     

Guiding the use of collective feedback displayed on heatmaps to reduce group conformity and improve learning in Peer Instruction

Peer Instruction is an active learning method widely used in higher education, whereby students answer a series of questions twice, once before and once after peer discussion. There is an ongoing debate as to whether a collective feedback should be given after the students' initial answer, and if so, how the frequently observed group conformity can be avoided. This study examined whether guiding on the use of this feedback can reduce group conformity and improve learning using an interactive learning environment to administer a new type of quiz using graphics, and delivering collective feedback to the whole class in a novel heatmap format. In the experimental group, the teacher told the students that the answer indicated by the heatmap was not necessarily the correct one; this information was not given to students in the control group. Results revealed that guided students were less likely to adopt the (incorrect) majority answer than the non-guided students, and consequently, they were more likely to improve their learning by reaching an agreement about the correct answer through discussion with their peers. These findings suggest that guiding students in their use of collective feedback may have a crucial role in Peer Instruction.     

Chinese question-answering system

Traditional Chinese text retrieval systems return a ranked list of documents in response to a user‘s request. While a ranked list of documents may be an appropriate response for the user, frequently it is not.Usually it would be better for the system to provide the answer itself instead of requiring the user to search for the answer in a set of documents. Since Chinese text retrieval has just been developed lately, and due to various specific characteristics of Chinese language, the approaches to its retrieval are quite different from those studies and researches proposed to deal with Western language. Thus, an architecture that augments existing search engines is developed to support Chinese natural language question answering. In this paper a new approach to building Chinese question-answering system is described, which is the general-purpose, fully-automated Chinese question-answering system available on the web. In the approach, we attempt to represent Chinese text by its characteristics, and try to convert the Chinese text into ERE (E: entity, R: relation) relation data lists, and then to answer the question through ERE relation model. The system performs quite well giving the simplicity of the techniques being utilized. Experimental results show that question-answering accuracy can be greatly improved by analyzing more and more matching ERE relation data lists. Simple ERE relation data extraction techniques work well in our system making it efficient to use with many backend retrieval engines.     

Student engagement with assessment and feedback: Some lessons from short-answer free-text e-assessment questions

Students were observed directly, in a usability laboratory, and indirectly, by means of an extensive evaluation of responses, as they attempted interactive computer-marked assessment questions that required free-text responses of up to 20 words and as they amended their responses after receiving feedback. This provided more general insight into the way in which students actually engage with assessment and feedback, which is not necessarily the same as their self-reported behaviour. Response length and type varied with whether the question was in summative, purely formative, or diagnostic use, with the question itself, and most significantly with students’ interpretation of what the question author was looking for. Feedback was most effective when it was understood by the student, tailored to the mistakes that they had made and when it prompted students rather than giving the answer. On some occasions, students appeared to respond to the computer as if it was a human marker, supporting the ‘computers as social actors’ hypothesis, whilst on other occasions students seemed very aware that they were being marked by a machine.     

Exploring feedback and student characteristics relevant for personalizing feedback strategies

Personalized tutoring feedback is a powerful method that expert human tutors apply when helping students to optimize their learning. Thus, research on tutoring feedback strategies tailoring feedback according to important factors of the learning process has been recognized as a promising issue in the field of computer-based adaptive educational technologies. Our paper seeks to contribute to this area of research by addressing the following aspects: First, to investigate how students' gender, prior knowledge, and motivational characteristics relate to learning outcomes (knowledge gain and changes in motivation). Second, to investigate the impact of these student characteristics on how tutoring feedback strategies varying in content (procedural vs. conceptual) and specificity (concise hints vs. elaborated explanations) of tutoring feedback messages affect students' learning and motivation. Third, to explore the influence of the feedback parameters and student characteristics on students' immediate post-feedback behaviour (skipping vs. trying to accomplish a task, and failing vs. succeeding in providing a correct answer). To address these issues, detailed log-file analyses of an experimental study have been conducted. In this study, 124 sixth and seventh graders have been exposed to various tutoring feedback strategies while working on multi-trial error correction tasks in the domain of fraction arithmetic. The web-based intelligent learning environment ActiveMath was used to present the fraction tasks and trace students' progress and activities. The results reveal that gender is an important factor for feedback efficiency: Male students achieve significantly lower knowledge gains than female students under all tutoring feedback conditions (particularly, under feedback strategies starting with a conceptual hint). Moreover, perceived competence declines from pre- to post-test significantly more for boys than for girls. Yet, the decline in perceived competence is not accompanied by a decline in intrinsic motivation, which, instead, increases significantly from pre- to post-test. With regard to the post-feedback behaviour, the results indicate that students skip further attempts more frequently after conceptual than after procedural feedback messages.     

基于Visual Basic的题目训练器的设计与实现

理论课程不仅能对实践课程提供必要的指导,还对增强学生人文素质、提高人才核心竞争力、提升可持续职业能力等至关重要。高职院校的学生文化基础差,普遍对理论课程缺乏兴趣。为提高学生学习兴趣,设计并实训了基于Visual Basic的信息系统——题目训练器,使学生通过在计算机上答题,特别是针对错得比较多的薄弱环节,在得到反馈和解析基础上反复训练,达到熟记理论知识的目的。文章详细地介绍了该系统的设计与实现过程。     

Inferring mindful cognitive‐processing of peer‐feedback via eye‐tracking: role of feedback‐characteristics,fixation‐durations and transitions

Feedback literature identifies mindful cognitive processing of (peer) feedback and (peer) feedback characteristics – as well as the presence of justifications for feedback – as important for its efficiency. However, mindful cognitive processing has yet to be operationalized and investigated. In this study, an operationalization of mindful cognitive processing is introduced, alongside an investigation to identify valid measures for it. In a between‐subjects design, peer feedback (PF) content [elaborated specific feedback with justifications (ESF + J) vs. elaborated specific feedback without justifications (ESF)] was varied. Students received a scenario containing an essay by a fictional student and fictional PF, followed by a text revision, distraction and PF recall task. Eye tracking was applied to measure (a) how written PF was (re‐) read (fixation durations) and (b) the number of transitions occurring between PF and essay text. Mindful cognitive processing was inferred from the relation between fixation durations on PF and number of transitions between essay text and PF with (a) text revision performance and (b) PF recall performance. When no justifications were provided, recipients invested more time in reading the PF and essay and increased the effort to relate the PF to essay text. Fixation durations and number of transitions proved to be valid measures to infer mindful cognitive processing.     

Diagnosing students' alternative conceptions in science

Abstract This study described an attempt to develop a networked two-tier test system. A two-tier test is a two-level multiple-choice question that diagnoses students' alternative conceptions in science. Three networked, two-tier test items were presented in this study. Students in Taiwan (555 14 year olds and 599 16 year olds) were asked to answer these items online. An analysis of students' answers suggested that students' alternative conceptions might be retained even after formal instruction about relevant conceptions. Moreover, their responses were related across these three two-tier test items. Further development of the two-tier test system will mainly focus on designing appropriate feedback and guidance that help students overcome their alternative conceptions. In this way, the networked two-tier test system is not only a diagnostic tool, but also an effective instructional tool. This study has illuminated some innovative thoughts for the research and practice of science education.     

A video recording and viewing protocol for student group presentations: Assisting self-assessment through a Wiki environment

The purpose of this research was to firstly develop a protocol for video recording student group oral presentations, for later viewing and self-assessment by student group members. Secondly, evaluations of students' experiences of this process were undertaken to determine if this self-assessment method was a positive experience for them in gaining insights into the quality of their group's presentation. Participants were students undertaking a first year course in a bachelor of business degree within an Australian university. Students were surveyed twice, once prior to group formation to determine their previous oral group presentation experiences and then after viewing their presentations. Data from survey items assessing students' perspectives on the utility of viewing their video presentations, within their group Wikis, revealed that watching the video of their group presentation was an effective method of feedback and could improve both group and individual performance in the future. Further, content analysis of open ended survey questions and focus groups identified that students were highly engaged in the activity and after reviewing and reflecting on their video recording had deeper insights and raised awarenesses of making group presentations. Students identified that this experience would benefit any future group oral presentations they made.     

游戏化同伴学习系统

良好的学习动机对于明确学习目标、端正学习态度、激发学习潜能等方面都起到至关重要的作用. 现有的增强学习动机的策略或单从促进同伴间的互动来考虑, 或单从游戏化教学活动来考虑, 或将这两种措施简单相结合, 均存在局限性. 鉴于此, 本文通过综合考虑同伴互动中的竞争与合作两种模式, 并结合丰富游戏化的机制, 设计了一种新颖的...     

Pairing practice and feedback with animations optimizes student learning in online module

In this study, we investigated the optimal placement of animations and practice and feedback exercises with respect to each other and to static text and graphics in an online DNA replication module. We randomly assigned students in a first‐semester introductory biology course for freshmen biology majors and nonmajors to one of four online modules with animations and practice exercises (assets) either embedded with the text and images or saved until the end after all the text and images. Although we expected to find that embedding assets with text and images would improve learning outcomes, we were surprised to find that outcomes did not change with the location of these assets with respect to the text and static images. Instead, we found that colocation of exercises with animations was correlated with the biggest student learning gains, independent of where these assets appeared relative to the static text and static images. This held true both for immediate posttest scores and delayed application questions on a midterm exam. Our findings could have potential implications for how to best design online learning modules that feature multiple assets.     

Implementing an automated feedback program for a foreign language writing course: A learner-centric study

Considering the prominence attached to written corrective feedback (WCF) within the domain of second/foreign language (L2) acquisition, automated writing evaluation (AWE) tools have steadily gained ground over the last two decades. The current study was an attempt to investigate the extent incorporating an AWE program, known as Criterion®, within a process writing framework would affect learners' writing quality in an English as a foreign language context. Moreover, we drew a comparison between the overall effects of computer- versus teacher-generated WCF. Participants consisted of 53 tertiary level students from two intact essay-writing classes. The within-group findings revealed that the experimental group's writing scores rose significantly from the pretest to posttest after receiving automated WCF over several weeks. Significant progress was also noticed on all rounds of scores obtained from five essays assigned to this group except between the first and the second. As for the comparison between computer- and teacher-administered WCF, the former condition was found to be more efficient. Overall, the findings provide a deeper insight into the workings of an automated evaluation tool and how it was employed in the L2 classroom to impart consistency to the assessment procedure and ease the burden traditionally placed upon teachers.     

Structuring the peer assessment process: a multilevel approach for the impact on product improvement and peer feedback quality

In order to optimize students' peer feedback processes, this study investigates how an instructional intervention in the peer assessment process can have a beneficial effect on students' performance in a wiki environment in first‐year higher education. The main aim was to study the effect of integrating a peer feedback template with a varying structuring degree. The present study involved three conditions: a no structure, a basic structure and an elaborate structure condition. Due to a clear hierarchical structure, in which over time (level 1), 168 students (level 2) are nested within 37 groups (level 3), multilevel analysis was performed to examine the effect of time, student and group level influences on students' peer feedback quality and product scores. The results revealed that both peer feedback quality and product scores increase significantly for all conditions over time, after multiple practice occasions. In addition, after several practice occasions, significant differences were found between the conditions in both peer feedback (elaborate higher than no structure) and product scores (elaborate and basic higher than no structure). Building on this, limitations, directions for future research and practical implications are presented.     

The influence of computerized feedback on overconfidence in knowledge

Subjects were tested on general knowledge questions. They had to give their answer to each question and to state their level of confidence in its correctness. This was done under four conditions: by a paper and pencil test with and without feedback; and by computerized testing, again, with and without feedback. All in all, subjects demonstrated overconfidence in their knowledge under all conditions. However, feedback by a computerized system was effective in reducing the overconfidence level. The implications of this finding to the domain of computer-based educational systems is discussed.     

Camtasia in the Classroom: Student Attitudes and Preferences for Video Commentary or Microsoft Word Comments During the Revision Process

In the last ten years, libraries, individual departments, and professors have experimented with screen-capture software to develop edited tutorials, record in-class lectures via presentation software, and record think-aloud rationale for difficult problem sets. Moreover, screen-capture software has been used to provide visual/audio feedback for student writing. Currently, there is scant research on visual/audio feedback via screen-capture software in writing courses. The present study examines student perceptions and attitudes about two different modes and media of teacher feedback: Microsoft Word comments versus visual/audio commentary. The results indicate that the mode and medium of teacher feedback had an impact on students’ perceptions about the rhetorical context of the revision process and perceptions about the teacher/student relationship. Students who preferred the visual/audio modality of the teacher commentary videos cited their conversational quality, clarification of expectations, and reference to more global issues in writing. On the other hand, students who preferred the Microsoft Word comments were more apt to discuss its indexical quality in that students could easily revise surface level features or locate the “problem” sentence. The results also indicate that an either/or approach to teacher feedback is not necessary. Students articulated the relevance of using a combination approach in which Microsoft Word comments and the teacher commentary videos could be used for different elements or stages of the writing process. As instructors transition to teaching within online contexts and experiment with new technologies, it is important to examine the significance of the mode and medium of teacher feedback in student perceptions, participation, and writing practices.