Effects of differential feedback on students' examination performance.

The effects of feedback on performance and factors associated with it were examined in a large introductory psychology course. The experiment involved college students (N = 464) working on an essay examination under 3 conditions: no feedback, detailed feedback that was perceived by participants to be provided by the course instructor, and detailed feedback that was perceived by participants to be computer generated. Additionally, these conditions were crossed with factors of grade (receiving a numerical grade or not) and praise (receiving a statement of praise or not). The task under consideration was a single-question essay examination administered at the beginning of the course. Detailed feedback on the essay, specific to individual's work, was found to be strongly related to student improvement in essay scores, with the influence of grades and praise being more complex. Generally, receipt of a tentative grade depressed performance, although this effect was ameliorated if accompanied by a statement of praise. Overall, detailed, descriptive feedback was found to be most effective when given alone, unaccompanied by grades or praise. It was also found that the perceived source of the feedback (the computer or the instructor) had little impact on the results. These findings are consistent with the research literature showing that descriptive feedback, which conveys information on how one performs the task and details ways to overcome difficulties, is far more effective than evaluative feedback, which simply informs students about how well they did.

[1]  M. Scriven.  The methodology of evaluation , 1966 .

[2]  C. Palau,et al.  ASSESSMENT IN EDUCATION , 2015 .

[3]  J. Harvey,et al.  New Directions in Attribution Research , 2018 .

[4]  Arkalgud Ramaprasad,et al.  On the definition of feedback , 1983 .

[5]  Ruth Butler,et al.  Effects of no feedback, task-related comments, and grades on intrinsic motivation and performance , 1986 .

[6]  R. Butler.  Task-involving and ego-involving properties of evaluation: Effects of different feedback conditions on motivational perceptions, interest, and performance. , 1987 .

[7]  P. Earley,et al.  Computer-generated performance feedback in the magazine-subscription industry , 1988 .

[8]  Pc Earley.  Computer-generated performance feedback in the Subscription-processing industry , 1988 .

[9]  R. Butler.  ENHANCING AND UNDERMINING INTRINSIC MOTIVATION: THE EFFECTS OF TASK‐INVOLVING AND EGO‐INVOLVING EVALUATION ON INTEREST AND PERFORMANCE , 1988 .

[10]  D. Watson,et al.  Development and validation of brief measures of positive and negative affect: the PANAS scales. , 1988, Journal of personality and social psychology.

[11]  Bernhard Wilpert,et al.  Applied psychology : an international review , 1989 .

[12]  K. J. Cairns,et al.  Negative Effects of Praise on Skilled Performance , 1990 .

[13]  Chen-Lin C. Kulik,et al.  The Instructional Effect of Feedback in Test-Like Events , 1991 .

[14]  Susanne P. Lajoie,et al.  Computers As Cognitive Tools , 2020 .

[15]  M. Lepper,et al.  Motivational techniques of expert human tutors: Lessons for the design of computer-based tutors. , 1993 .

[16]  A. Kluger,et al.  The Influence of Feedback on Mood: Linear Effects on Pleasantness and Curvilinear Effects on Arousal , 1994 .

[17]  Roy F. Baumeister,et al.  Praise: More Than Just Social Reinforcement , 1994 .

[18]  J. Cameron,et al.  Reinforcement, Reward, and Intrinsic Motivation: A Meta-Analysis , 1994 .

[19]  Albert C. Oosterhof.  Classroom applications of educational measurement , 1994 .

[20]  M. Dyck,et al.  Integration of positive and negative affectivity and cognitive content-specificity: improved discrimination of anxious and depressive symptoms. , 1994, Journal of abnormal psychology.

[21]  Jan Pieter van Oudenhoven,et al.  The effects of contingent feedback on perceived control and performance , 1995 .

[22]  Jeffrey K. Smith,et al.  Consequence of Performance, Test, Motivation, and Mentally Taxing Items , 1995 .

[23]  Jeffrey K. Smith,et al.  The Consequence of Consequence: Motivation, Anxiety, and Test Performance , 1995 .

[24]  A. Kluger,et al.  The effects of feedback interventions on performance: A historical review, a meta-analysis, and a preliminary feedback intervention theory. , 1996 .

[25]  B. J. Fogg,et al.  Can computers be teammates? , 1996, Int. J. Hum. Comput. Stud..

[26]  Clifford Nass,et al.  Are Computers Gender-Neutral? Gender Stereotypic Responses to Computers , 1997 .

[27]  C. Nass,et al.  Are Machines Gender Neutral? Gender‐Stereotypic Responses to Computers With Voices , 1997 .

[28]  P. Black,et al.  Assessment and Classroom Learning , 1998 .

[29]  S. Roesch.  Validity Studies the Factorial Validity of Trait Positive Affect Scores: Confirmatory Factor Analyses of Unidimensional and Multidimensional Models , 1998 .

[30]  M. Lepper,et al.  Understanding the effects of extrinsic rewards on intrinsic motivation--uses and abuses of meta-analysis: comment on Deci, Koestner, and Ryan (1999) , 1999, Psychological bulletin.

[31]  E. Deci,et al.  A meta-analytic review of experiments examining the effects of extrinsic rewards on intrinsic motivation. , 1999, Psychological bulletin.

[32]  C. Nass,et al.  Are People Polite to Computers? Responses to Computer-Based Interviewing Systems1 , 1999 .

[33]  Robert J. Marzano,et al.  Transforming Classroom Grading , 2000 .

[34]  D. Ilgen,et al.  Bearing Bad News: Reactions to Negative Performance Feedback , 2000 .

[35]  W. L. Heward,et al.  Teaching Students to Recruit Positive Attention: A Review and Recommendations , 2000 .

[36]  J. B. Vancouver,et al.  The changing signs in the relationships among self-efficacy, personal goals, and performance. , 2001, The Journal of applied psychology.

[37]  Larry Ambrose,et al.  The power of feedback. , 2002, Healthcare executive.

[38]  M. Lepper,et al.  The effects of praise on children's intrinsic motivation: a review and synthesis. , 2002, Psychological bulletin.

[39]  Jill Burstein,et al.  The E-rater® scoring engine: Automated essay scoring with natural language processing. , 2003 .

[40]  A. Bandura,et al.  Negative self-efficacy and goal effects revisited. , 2003, The Journal of applied psychology.

[41]  T. Landauer.  Automatic Essay Assessment , 2003 .

[42]  Jill Burstein,et al.  Automated Essay Scoring : A Cross-disciplinary Perspective , 2003 .

[43]  J. Henry,et al.  The positive and negative affect schedule (PANAS): construct validity, measurement properties and normative data in a large non-clinical sample. , 2004, The British journal of clinical psychology.

[44]  Jill Burstein,et al.  AUTOMATED ESSAY SCORING WITH E‐RATER® V.2.0 , 2004 .

[45]  Richard E. Ferdig,et al.  Emotional Responses to Computers: Experiences in Unfairness, Anger, and Spite , 2004 .

[46]  P. Black,et al.  Redefining assessment? The first ten years of assessment in education , 2004 .

[47]  Punya Mishra,et al.  Affective Feedback from Computers and its Effect on Perceived Ability and Affect: A Test of the Computers as Social Actor Hypothesis , 2006 .

[48]  Kiley Walsh Symonds,et al.  After the Test: Closing the Achievement Gaps With Data , 2004 .

[49]  Yigal Attali,et al.  Exploring the Feedback and Revision Features of Criterion , 2004 .

[50]  Christine E. DeMars,et al.  Low Examinee Effort in Low-Stakes Assessment: Problems and Potential Solutions , 2005 .

[51]  Remus Ilies,et al.  Goal regulation across time: the effects of feedback and affect. , 2005, The Journal of applied psychology.

[52]  S. Gorard,et al.  'They don't give us our marks': The role of formative feedback in student progress , 2005 .

[53]  David Hamilton,et al.  Formative assessment: A cybernetic viewpoint , 2005 .

[54]  Paul Karoly,et al.  Self‐Regulation Across Domains of Applied Psychology: Is there an Emerging Consensus? , 2005 .

[55]  Janice Orrell,et al.  Feedback on learning achievement: rhetoric and reality , 2006 .

[56]  James L. Szalma,et al.  Training for Vigilance: Using Predictive Power to Evaluate Feedback Effectiveness , 2006, Hum. Factors.

[57]  V. Shute.  Focus on Formative Feedback. Research Report. ETS RR-07-11. , 2007 .

[58]  L. Mueller-Joseph,et al.  Classroom Assessment , 1998 .

[59]  Dylan Wiliam,et al.  Integrating Assessment with Learning: What Will It Take to Make It Work? , 2007 .

[60]  V. Shute.  Focus on Formative Feedback , 2008 .

[61]  C. Dwyer,et al.  The Future of Assessment : Shaping Teaching and Learning , 2008 .

[62]  Jeffrey B Vancouver,et al.  Self-efficacy and resource allocation: support for a nonmonotonic, discontinuous model. , 2008, The Journal of applied psychology.