Christi Fitch
Alamance County
Southern Alamance HS
Science

BACKGROUND

Analyzing how students use assessment feedback

Feedback can have a positive influence on student achievement. According to Rowe & Wood (2007) feedback constitutes a central aspect of learning, yet has been largely neglected in research to date, particularly from the student’s point of view. 

• Educational feedback can be defined as a constructive response to a formal or informal assessment of a student.

• Assessments are evaluations of student learning or mastery of a particular skill.  These can be both formal and informal.

With the introduction of No Child Left Behind act (2001) more focus has been placed on standardized test scores and formative assessments, than in previous years of education. Students are judged by teachers and an assessment, but are they acquiring the critical thinking skills to assess themselves? 

Students are being held to a higher level of assessment mastery, but it is unclear what impact if any this has had on their use of higher level thinking skills such as using feedback. One area in particular is the student’s use of feedback to improve their performance.

The literature states that formative assessment provides students with information about their performance (Weaver, 2006; Yorke, 2003), that feedback provides information about performance in comparison to a reference level (Ramaprasad, 1983) and can be used to improve performance, clarify understanding and enhance learning (Ford & Chen, 2001).

PURPOSE

Feedback plays a key role in how much material is retained and in the students’ expectations as a learner. The research shows that most studies completed looked at feedback as having an impact not only on academics but also the social, emotional, and behavioral learning of a student.

Most everything we have learned from infancy to adulthood has been through the use of feedback whether we realize it or not. You learn from a young age that certain facial expressions and tones of voice are related to either praise or punishment. The same is true for students who are taking standardized assessments. They learn that what they have been doing has worked to give them a good grade or has not worked and they need to change their study habits.

Building on previous research and also exploring new dimensions of research, this paper will explore how high school biology students interpret the feedback given to them after assessments, and how they use this information to improve academic performance on later assessments. Also included, will be the student’s ideas about what feedback is and how they feel they use it to improve their academic knowledge as measured on standardized assessments.

RESOURCES

Ford, N., & Chen, S.Y. (2001). Matching/Mismatching revisted: an empirical study of learning and teaching styles. British Journal of Educational Technology, 32(1), 5-22.

No Child Left Behind Act (2001). President William Clinton.

Ramaprasad, A. (1983). On the definition of feedback. Behavioral Science, 28, 4-13.

Rowe, A.D., & Wood, L.N. (2007). What feedback do students want? Macquarie University. 07086.

Yorke, M. (2003). Formative assessment in higher education: Moves towards theory and the enhancement of pedagogic practice. Higher Education, 45(4), 477-501.

Weaver, M.R. (2006). Do students value feedback? Student perceptions of tutors’ written responses. Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education, 31(3), 379-394.

METHODS

Subjects

Research was conducted between September 2008 and January 2009.  Participants were North Carolina high school biology students at a rural high school with a population of 1400 students. There are seven other high schools within the school system.

Two classes were chosen and five students were selected from the classes to give information regarding feedback. Each class period is 90 minutes long and implemented a range of learning activities including the use of Active Boards, whiteboards, classroom discussions, teacher lecture, and group work.

The students were chosen based on previous test data and performance on a practice biology assessment. The five students range from academically gifted to special education students with learning disabilities in the areas of writing and reading.  Students #1 & #2 are high achieving students.  Students #3 & #4 are average to below average achieving students.  Student #5 has a learning disability.

Surveys

Participants were given a pre and post survey regarding their thoughts and ideas about feedback and how they use it in their class.  The surveys reflected standard research questions and open ended questions. 

These surveys were given to all students so the teacher could understand the classes and improve students understanding.  Only the 5 participants were analyzed for the purpose of this study.

Field Notes

A combination of individual interviews and teacher observations were used to explore students’ perceptions and utilization of feedback.  Then the researcher used a combination of informal questioning, observation and assessments, to gain an accurate model of participants’ use of feedback. The researcher observed and recorded the participant’s reactions to routine assessments in the class.

Teacher presented  informal questions to all students, but only recorded responses of the 5 students being studied.  The teacher starts from the beginning of the semester and goes over all assessments  by reviewing 5 questions a majority of the students had difficulty on.  Then the teacher asks if anybody has questions or concerns.  This is routine for the teacher every semester in all classes.

The researcher asked all students questions informally before formative assessments were given and recorded only the 5 participant’s statements.  The researcher observed and recorded the participant’s reactions when the formative assessments were returned with student data by goal.  Next, the researcher reviewed the formative assessments giving the correct answers and observed the participants reactions. Finally, all 5 participants were asked informal questions to see how feedback was being used.

Common behaviors observed:

• Students only acknowledge feedback regarding content not mastered. All students were asked,
  
  “How will you use the data from the benchmark assessment?”  The students responded with the following responses:

“I will study the goals I did not do well on.”

“I will read chapters that did not do well on and read over notes.”

“I will study topics that I did not do well on.

• Asked teacher what the right answers were but rarely asked WHY that answer was the correct one. Wrote down side notes on tests when making corrections.
• Students would choose to study in small groups before assessments.
• Feedback to most student is a grade or a mark on a paper.

RESULTS FROM PRE/POST SURVEY

What is Feedback?

Responses to this pre-survey question reveal differences in participants’ perceptions of what feedback is. Of the five students only 2 answered the question. Participant #2 stated that feedback was “grades and comments that the teacher gives.” Participant #5 stated that “Feedback is good,” but did not elaborate on their response. Three participants did not answer the question, which it was assumed by the researcher that the participants did not know what feedback was.

The post-survey questions revealed that the students had learned what feedback was. (I used the word feedback in class whenever they received their data from the benchmark assessment.  It had their information of what they mastered and what they did not by goal.) All the participants answered the questions with more elaborate answers. Participant #1 stated that “Feedback is the information you get back from something like a test which is supposed to help you.”

Participant #2 stated “Grades on the tests I take in class and what parts I should maybe go over so I will understand them.” Participant #3 simply stated that it was “Looking back on things I used before.” Participant #4 said that “Feedback is the grade your making, how good you are doing, or wrong and correct answers you had on a previous test.” Participant #5 simply stated that feedback was “To get results.”

What is the purpose of teachers giving feedback?

The participants responded to this question using a lot of the same responses. All of the five participants stated that the purpose of feedback was to motivate students to do better. They also stated that teachers use feedback to “Correct a student’s use of incorrect skills and concepts.” Participant #4 also stated that the purpose of feedback was to “Get better at what you do.”  Participants #1, #3, and #5 stated that feedback was also used to increase confidence.

This question was asked in the post-survey but was reworded to include the role of teachers giving feedback. It is essentially the same questions but a different cuing word was used. Participants #1, #2, and #3 all stated “Motivation” was the role for giving feedback. Participants #1, #3, #4, and #5 responded that the teachers’ role for giving feedback was to “Correct incorrect use of skills and concepts.” Also Participants #1 and #2 stated that the role was to increase confidence. Participant #1 elaborated on their answer to include that the role was also for the teacher to give “Constructive Criticism.”

What is the most useful feedback?

The participants responded by very simple responses for this question, and did not elaborate on their answers. Participant #1 did not answer the question. Participants #2, #4 and #5 all stated that written comments was the most useful feedback they received. Participants #3, #4, and #5 also said that getting the correct answers were the most useful forms of feedback for them. The responses were not elaborate, but it became apparent from their responses that getting the right answers was useful for them.

The post-survey results also show that the students were more aware of what feedback was and how to use it to help them be more successful. Participants #1, #2, #3, and #5 responded by stating the correct answers were the most useful. Participant #3 said that “Studying tests helped the most.” Participants #4 and #5 also thought written comments were useful forms of feedback. Participant #2 elaborated to include grades and comments as another useful form of feedback.

How do you use feedback?

The participants seemed to understand what to do with the feedback once it is given to them, but the actual practice of using the feedback was not examined in this research. Participants #1, #2, #3, and #5 stated that they “Look at the feedback and try to improve the next time.” Participant #1, #3, #4, and #5 all stated that they “Look only at the questions they got wrong.” Participants #1, #3, and #5 also stated that they “Seek additional help from the teacher.” An interesting response from Participants #3 and #5 was that they compare themselves to their peers.

The post-survey responses were all very similar. Participant #1 said they use feedback to “Review the right answers and study the ones I got wrong, and use constructive criticism.” Participant #2 used feedback to “See what parts of the curriculum that I should probably go over.” Participant #3 used feedback to “Look at my wrong and correct answers and review them.” Participant #4 stated that they use feedback to “Review and study what I need to work on, or even what I’ve gotten right. Finally, Participant #5 used feedback to study the questions that were missed.

How has assessment helped you master content?

This question was asked only in the post-survey and was a simple rating scale of how the assessment has helped them master the content in Biology. Participants #1 and #2 both checked that it has helped greatly. Participants #3, #4, and #5 all marked that the assessment has helped somewhat in Biology.

How did you use the tests and Active Votes given in class over the semester? (Active Votes are personal response devices used in connection with quizzes that are projected onto an Active Board.  Students are able to instantly get feedback from these types of quizzes.)

This question was asked by the researcher to see how the students implemented feedback into their daily classroom routines. This was a post assessment survey question only.

• Participant #1 stated, “I reviewed the questions I got wrong and studied them to prepare for the End of Course test.”
• Participant #2 stated “I went over all tests before the End of Course test. It guided me on what I needed to study for the End of Course test.”
• Participant #3 stated that the “Active Votes helped me study and the tests helped me do corrections for the next tests. Participant #4 used the feedback by “The tests helped me understand what I didn’t know and told me what I needed to still study.”
• The final Participant #5 used the tests to “Study and review for class.”

Themes will help teaching how to use feedback

The study conducted was created to explore how students in a high school Biology class use feedback to improve their academic performance. This is a relatively unresearched area that was addressed by this study. Qualitative research results have been presented from the participants selected; the themes will be used to guide students to more effectively use feedback from the teacher, tests, and state assessments.

Depending on whether the feedback matches the learner’s expectations about their performance, feedback can confirm existing beliefs, add information, overwrites existing beliefs, tune understandings or lead to the restructuring of schemata and existing beliefs (Butler & Winne, 1995).

Students seem to value feedback

Students in this study reported that they used the feedback given to them from test scores, active votes, and asking the teacher questions.

The degree to which each participant used feedback to improve academic performance varied from just looking over the incorrect answers to staying after school to get more help.

This supports previous research by Higgins et al. (2002), Hyland (2000) and Weaver (2006), who also found that students valued feedback.

Feedback not fully used

The responses received when students were asked what feedback was, suggests that they did not have an accurate understanding of what feedback was before the study was completed. We take it for granted that providing feedback to the learner about performance will lead to self-correction and improvement (Shepard 2008). This shows that while students recognized that they used feedback, they were unsure what it was actually composed of. While a learning environment may be designed to facilitate change on a given variable, students do not always perceive the environment in the intended way (Peterson and Irving, 2008). This resulted in the participants not utilizing the feedback to its highest potential. Most of the participants admitted to using the feedback to help them when they failed a test by reviewing or asking questions on how to improve on the next test.

Mastered defining, but not applying

At the end of the study the students were able to give a more thorough definition of what feedback was but they still felt that it had to only do with getting a grade on a test so they know what to study the next time. According to Wojtas (1998) students are only interested in their grade or mark and pay little attention to feedback.

Using feedback does not lead to better understanding of content

The research suggests that the average and below average students were not able to think through the process of using feedback for mastery learning. They begin the process by asking questions, realizing they have information incorrect, state they need to stay after school for extra help, and take notes during review. The research suggests that the students know how to ask for the right answer or circle the right answer but do not know how to use and follow through and correct their beliefs of the content with that information to achieve mastery learning.

When motivated by grades alone, feedback has little benefit

Surprisingly, two of the participants acknowledged that receiving a low grade on a test lowers their confidence in themselves and their ability to do well in the class. These participants both stated that they only used feedback to look over the answers that they got wrong and correct them, but not look over the questions that they got correct. The two participants who made these statements did end up failing the final state standardized assessment, but were given credit for completing the course. This result shows that these two participants did not have an accurate working definition of feedback and did not utilize the feedback they were given to improve their academic performance.

Peer competition surfaces as motivator for learning

One outcome of this study was the responses to what the participants did when they received a passing score on an assessment. Interestingly one participant of the study stated that they compared themselves to their peers. This is the only participant to make this statement. This participant scored the highest on the state standardized assessment at the end of the course, compared to the other four participants. This was an unexpected outcome of this study and would need to be studied further to be able to give a good explanation for this result.

Assessments improve mastery of content

Finally, one aspect that all of the participants could agree on was that the use of assessments has helped them master the content of the Biology course. The two participants who said that it helped greatly received the highest scores on the state standardized assessment compared to the other three participants.

More study needed

This study has revealed some important findings surrounding conceptions of students and their utilization of assessment and feedback for academic success in a high school Biology course. Further research will need to be conducted to see if these results are generalized to other grade levels and content areas. Also needed is a more comprehensive study which includes individual participants’ future use of feedback throughout their other high school courses and in their future academic careers. 

Are educators effectively providing feedback?

This study also sheds the light on the question of whether educators are effectively using feedback techniques for their students. Educational feedback is a two way process.  Both educators and students need to be held accountable for this critical thinking process which is imperative for student achievement.

Resources

Butler, D.L. & Winne, P.H. (1995). Feedback and self-regulated learning: a theoretical synthesis. Review of Educational Research, 65, 245-281.

Higgins, R., Hartley, P., & Skelton, A. (2002). The conscientious consumer: recognizing the role of feedback in student learning. Studies in Higher Education, 27, 53-64.

Hyland, P. (2000). Learning from feedback in assessment. In P. Hyland & A. Booth (Eds.), The practice of university history teaching (pp 233-247). Manchester University Press.

Peterson, E.R., and Irving, S. E. (2008). Secondary school students’ conceptions of assessment and feedback. Learning and Instruction, 238-250.

Shepard, L.A. (2008). The role of assessment in a learning culture. Educational Researcher, 29(7), 4-14.

Weaver, M.R. (2006). Do students value feedback? Student perceptions of tutors’ written responses. Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education, 31(3), 379-394.

Wojtas, O. (1998). Feedback? No, just give us the answers. Times Higher Education Supplement.


Acknowledgement:  Dr. Tracy Sheradin