Impact of viewing personalised feedback on final assignment

Impact of viewing personalised feedback on final assignment marks The University of Sydney Page 1

Providing feedback in our unit of study – Types of feedback provided – Quizzes – Mark and explanation of correct answers on submission – Tutorials – Summary group feedback and model answers. Students can post to discussion board for individual feedback – Assessment tasks – Assignment 1 and 2 – Average ratings for our unit are 4. 3/5 but 3. 9/5 for the question: “I have been guided by helpful feedback on my learning” The University of Sydney Page 2

Issues with providing feedback in our unit – Resource intensive – Large student numbers – 200 -250 in Sem 1 and 100 -150 in Sem 2 – Students don’t always engage with the feedback we provide – Postgraduate students studying part-time – very time poor – Students tend to focus predominantly on individual feedback for assessment tasks – almost no posting of tutorial answers for personal feedback – Many students don’t even check their personalised feedback for assignments The University of Sydney Page 3

Research questions – What proportion of students access their personalised feedback for the mid-semester assignment (assignment 1)? – Is there an association between accessing feedback and the final assignment mark? The University of Sydney Page 4

Results – In semester 2, 2017, 119 students (94%) submitted assignment 1 – Out of these, 70% viewed their personalised feedback – Students who failed the assignment (19/119) were more likely to view their feedback (75% vs 68%) – Those who accessed their feedback did better in assignment 2 than those who didn’t – This occurred in both those who failed and didn’t fail assignment 1 but the size of the difference in median marks was greater in those who failed The University of Sydney Page 5

Median difference in assignment 2 marks 50 45 40 35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0 Failed assignment 1 Didn't view feedback The University of Sydney Passed assignment 1 Viewed feedback Page 6

What does this mean? – Do students improve because – We give great feedback that helps their learning – The behavior of viewing feedback is a marker of particular student characteristics that are associated with better performance • Different baseline knowledge or skills • Level of engagement in the unit of study The University of Sydney Page 7

Median baseline knowledge quiz score (out of 15) 12 10 8 6 4 2 0 Didn't submit assignment 1 Failed assignment 1 Didn't view feedback The University of Sydney Passed assignment 1 Viewed feedback Page 8

Engagement with the unit of study – tutorial participation 12 10 8 6 4 2 0 Did not submit assignment 1 Failed assignment 1 Didn't view feedback The University of Sydney Passed assignment 1 Viewed feedback Page 9

Median total number of pages viewed in Canvas site 700 600 500 400 300 200 100 0 Didn't submit assignment 1 Failed assignment 1 Didn't view feedback The University of Sydney Passed assignment 1 Viewed feedback Page 10

Summary – Viewing feedback is associated with an increased median mark in the final assignment – Viewing feedback is also associated with – Lower score on the baseline knowledge quiz – Minimal difference in tutorial participation – Greater number of pages viewed in Canvas (higher engagement) – These associations are present in students who failed assignment 1 and those whose passed assignment 1 but are greater in those who failed assignment 1 The University of Sydney Page 11

How we plan to use this research in our teaching – Reinforce to students that quiz marks (both the baseline knowledge and weekly quizzes) do not assess all skills – Use the results of higher median marks in those viewing feedback as a tool to increase student engagement with feedback The University of Sydney Page 12