Prior experience with online feedback: its influence on students’ engagement

Abstract

Although the literature on feedback processes has identified two approaches to feedback—more transmissive or more dialogical—there is little empirical evidence of how students perceive feedback practices, particularly in online education. Moreover, there is a lack of research addressing previous experience with online feedback (frequency, timing, type of feedback and the opportunity to resubmit their work) and how this influences student engagement. To provide evidence regarding these issues, we administered an online questionnaire to 1,766 bachelor students. Results suggested that students tend to perceive feedback practices as resembling the transmissive model. Even so, the results confirmed that students’ prior experience with online feedback influences their degree of cognitive engagement with it. The discussion in this paper focuses on the importance of carrying out dialogical feedback practices in online education, as well as demonstrating why it is important to purposefully design feedback, at both instructional and institutional levels.

Keywords:

• feedback
• online education
• prior experience
• engagement

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was declared by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This research was supported by the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities under Grant PGC2018-098552-B-I00.

Notes on contributors

A. Espasa

Anna Espasa is an associate professor in the Faculty of Psychology and Education at the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya. At present, she is the director of the master's degree in educational psychology. Her focus of research is on assessment and feedback processes in online learning environments.

T. Guasch

Teresa Guasch is dean of the Faculty of Psychology and Education at the Open University of Catalonia. Her research is focused on the elements that contribute to scaffolding better teaching and learning in online learning environments, with special focus on learning support in writing processes, such as feedback.

R. M. Mayordomo

Rosa M. Mayordomo is a lecturer in the Department of Psychology and Education at the Open University of Catalonia, and Feed2Learn Research Group’ member. Her research focuses on formative assessment and on the dialogical feedback process in higher education. More information on Feed2Learn Research Group website: http://www.feed2learn.com/

M. Martinez-Melo

Montserrat Martínez-Melo is a lecturer in the Faculty of Psychology and Education at the Open University of Catalonia. She is a research assistant and methodologist in the Feed2Learn Research Group. Her research is about the personalization of feedback processes. For more information, visit Feed2Learn Research Group website: http://www.feed2learn.com/