The impact of positive feedback on student outcomes and perceptions

Department

Civil and Environmental Engineering

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

1-1-2022

Abstract

High quality feedback on assessments and deliverables is vital to student success. This pilot study sought to understand the impact of combining positive and performance-gap feedback in an immediate feedback scenario where students were provided multiple attempts to complete an assignment. 176 online undergraduate students were surveyed after completing a general inorganic chemistry course. Some students were provided performance-gap feedback, while others were provided performance-gap and positive feedback. The results suggest that type of feedback provided does not change students’ perceptions and self-reported behaviors in the course. However, students who were provided both performance-gap and positive feedback received an average of an entire letter grade higher than the students who received only performance-gap feedback. These findings support the idea that a combination of feedback has a direct positive impact on students in an online setting.

Journal Title

Assessment and Evaluation in Higher Education

Journal ISSN

02602938

Volume

47

Issue

2

First Page

259

Last Page

268

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

10.1080/02602938.2021.1910140

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