Does perception mean learning? Insights from an online peer feedback setting

Abstract

Many peer feedback studies examined students’ perceptions. Yet, little is known about how perceived and actual learning are related, and how they are influenced by individual and contextual characteristics including success level, educational level, gender, and academic major. This exploratory study addressed this research gap. Students from a Dutch university (N = 284) attended a three-week online module during which they were engaged in peer feedback on argumentative writing. At the end of the module, we measured students’ perceptions of learning. The results showed no significant effect of success level on perceived learning. Master students reported higher perceived learning than bachelor students regardless of success level. We did not find gender or academic major effects on perceived learning across different success levels. The findings suggest that relying solely on students’ perceptions of their learning experiences may not accurately reflect their actual learning. Students may need support to help them align their perceived learning with their actual learning achievements.

Keywords:

• peer feedback
• perceived learning
• argumentative essay writing
• online learning

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Author contributions

Omid Noroozi: Project administration, Conceptualization, Writing- Review & Editing. Maryam Alqassab: Writing- Original Draft. Nafiseh Taghizadeh Kerman: Formal analysis, Methodology, Writing- Original Draft. Seyyed Kazem Banihashem: Supervision, Conceptualization, Writing- Review & Editing. Ernesto Panadero: Writing- Review & Editing.

Additional information

Funding

This research was supported by the Ministry of Education, Culture, and Science, the Netherlands, the SURF organization, and Wageningen University and Research [funding number: 2100.9613.00. OCW] to the first author.

Notes on contributors

Omid Noroozi

Omid Noroozi is a faculty member in the field of Technology-Enhanced Transformative Learning at Wageningen University and Research, the Netherlands; His research interest are Educational Technology, Collaborative Learning, Peer Learning, Peer Feedback, Artificial Intelligence, and Computer Supported Collaborative Learning.

Maryam Alqassab

Maryam Alqassab is a Postdoctoral Researcher at the Open University of the Netherlands. Her research interests encompass formative (peer) assessment and feedback, technology-enhanced learning, learning design, and learning analytics.

Nafiseh Taghizadeh Kerman

Nafiseh Taghizadeh Kerman holds a PhD in Educational Administration from Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Iran. Her research focuses on technology-enhanced learning, feedback, assessment, and argumentation.

Seyyed Kazem Banihashem

Seyyed Kazem Banihashem is an Assistant Professor of Educational Technology at Open University of the Netherlands. His research focuses on technology-enhanced learning, learning analytics, assessment, and feedback.

Ernesto Panadero

Ernesto Panadero is the Director at the Centre for Assessment Research, Policy and Practice in Education (CARPE) at Dublin City University. He is also Honorary Professor at the Centre for Research in Assessment and Digital Learning (CRADLE), Deakin University (Australia). His research focuses on self-regulated learning and educational assessment, especially self & peer assessment, teachers’ feedback and the use of rubrics. He is the PI of the Education, Regulated Learning & Assessment (ERLA) research group since its creation in 2016. He received the Erik de Corte 2017, an award given by the EARLI to a promising early career European researcher in the field of Learning and Instruction.