The effect of increasing written approval on Italian students’ academic performance in higher education

ABSTRACT

Increasing teacher verbal approval has been shown to produce both increased pupil “on-task” behaviour and academic achievement. The present study aimed to address gaps in current knowledge about the effect of different kinds of teacher approval, other than verbal approval, on students’ performance. An exploratory study, followed by an experimental study, was conducted with Italian undergraduate psychology students in order to investigate the effect of written approval on their academic performance. The results indicate that, whilst there is some suggestion that students appreciated receiving increased written approval comments on their work, the receipt of such comments was accompanied by poorer academic performance than that of a control group. Possible explanations are presented.

KEYWORDS:

• Teacher–Students Interactions
• Written Approval
• Academic Performance
• Students’ Views
• Higher Education

Acknowledgments

The first author wish to thank his mentor, Alex Harrop, who died very suddenly while they were still working on this paper. He was such a lovely man who was admired by everyone and an inspiration to generations of psychologists.