The focus, function and framing of feedback information: linguistic and content analysis of in-text feedback comments

Abstract

In-text comments, in the form of annotations on students' work, are a form of feedback information that should guide students to take action. Both the focus of the in-text comments, and the ways in which they are linguistically communicated, have potential to impact upon the way in which they are perceived by students. This study reports on an analysis of 2101 in-text comments added by markers to 60 summative essays from two disciplines. The majority of comments, regardless of the grade awarded, were found to be directed at the task performance, rather than relating to the level of process or self-regulation. Work awarded higher grades received fewer annotations; these essays were found to include more feedback comments expressing a positive tone, with limited opportunities for informing further development. Work awarded lower grades mainly received corrective comments, as well as comments characterised by interrogative language and words expressing risk. It is argued that the linguistic style may influence engagement with in-text comments, impacting upon students' affective and emotional states, and their level of cognitive engagement with the feedback information. Recommendations for markers' practices are identified, to facilitate the opportunities for engagement and action that in-text comments might afford. Types of written feedback informationWithin higher education, written feedback has become the dominant form of feedback information (Agricola, Prins, and Sluijsmans 2020). Feedback is referred to as 'a process through which learners make sense of information from various sources and use it to enhance their work or learning strategies' Boud 2018, 1315). Carless (2015a) refers to this as the new paradigm of feedback, which is contrasted with the old paradigm where feedback merely serves to transfer information. Whilst feedback with characteristics of the new paradigm is identified by students as being of utmost importance (Winstone et al. 2017), it has been well established across the sector that student experience surveys frequently indicate dissatisfaction with assessment and feedback (Pitt and Norton 2017). Thus, there is a need to continue to review feedback practices and the quality of written feedback. The new paradigm advocates active participation by encouraging students to use feedback, which is essential for self-regulation

Sharing Practice on Framing Feedback Around Student Development

“…Whilst the first statement is meant with good intention, showing FRAMING FEEDBACK students how to adapt the current assignment, it does not actually benefit the student for their next assignment unless they can make the meta-cognitive step from what they should have done in the current assignment to what they should do in all future assignments (Hattie and Timperley, 2007). The second statement instead highlights the issue in the current work as well as developing an action plan for future work and has been shown to help students more in the long-term (Derham et al, 2021). Research suggests that many of the comments teachers make within their feedback tend to fall towards the first approach but with the expectation that students will comprehend the comments as something like the second approach (Arts et al, 2016;Dirkx et al, 2021).…”

“…In addition, we also know that you can't process both the global and the detailed at the same time. In a similar vein, feedback can focus on either the fine details down to spelling and grammar, or the more global aspects such as structure and building arguments (Derham et al, 2021). Surprisingly however, and despite knowing that the two levels of feedback are hard to process in parallel, we often mix these aspects of feedback together in the one document and expect students to comprehend and improve both elements for future work.…”

“…As such, it is imperative to stress the importance of making use of the feedback through reflection, and obtaining further feedback through discussion with staff (Carless and Boud, 2018;de Kleijn, 2021). Along with notifying students of the available opportunities, we as teachers can help students by demonstrating how we reflect on feedback -receiving feedback is an emotional process, and we can all make knee-jerk reactions, but stepping back and making a plan helps us move forward (Derham et al, 2021;Fong et al, 2019;Winstone et al, 2017a). To paraphrase Kirschner and Hendrick (2020) students are not novice experts who already have the knowledge and skills for dealing with feedback.…”

Sharing practice on framing feedback around student development

“…Whilst the first statement is meant with good intention, showing students how to adapt the current assignment, it does not actually benefit the student for their next assignment unless the student can make the meta-cognitive step from what they should have done in the current assignment to what they should do in all future assignments (Hattie & Timperley, 2007). The second statement, shown to help students more in the long-term (Derham et al, 2021), instead highlights the issue with the current work but also proposes an action plan for future work and, as such, the second comment focuses on future skill development rather than merely correcting the submitted piece.…”

“…In the same way that we can skim read a journal article to get the overall gist, or we can peruse every sentence for a deeper understanding -a distinction that ties into depth of processing theories in cognitive psychology (Craik & Lockhart, 1972) -feedback can focus on either the fine details down to spelling and grammar, or the more global aspects such as structure and building arguments (Derham et al, 2021). However, in our experience of feedback and mentoring others on giving feedback, we often see a mix of these two styles of feedback together in the one document, with lecturers expecting students to comprehend and improve both elements for future work.…”