Full text

Turn on search term navigation

© 2020. This work is licensed under https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/deed.es_ES (the “License”). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.

Abstract

Los entornos digitales permiten proporcionar retroalimentación correctiva de verificación de respuestas (KR: correcto/incorrecto) o de respuesta correcta (KCR: la respuesta correcta es X), junto con retroalimentación elaborada (EF: explicaciones). Es frecuente asumir que los estudiantes procesan la EF, aunque investigaciones recientes demuestran que eso no siempre es así, debido probablemente a la retroalimentación correctiva proporcionada junto con la EF. El objetivo de este trabajo es analizar la decisión voluntaria de acceder a EF en función de la retroalimentación KR y KCR recibida inmediatamente tras responder preguntas de un texto de ciencias. Estudiantes de secundaria recibieron retroalimentación correctiva según la condición asignada: KR, KCR o control (i.e., no correctiva). Posteriormente, todos pudieron acceder a EF, que incluía una explicación sobre los conocimientos evaluados. Los resultados sugieren que recibir retroalimentación KR y KCR disminuye el uso de EF en comparación con la retroalimentación control, aunque no hay diferencias en el aprendizaje final.

Alternate abstract:

Digital environments are able to provide corrective feedback such as knowledge of response (KR: correct/incorrect) or knowledge of correct response (KCR: the correct answer is X), along with elaborated feedback (EF: explanations). It is common to assume that students process EF, although recent research shows that this is not always the case, probably because of the corrective feedback provided along with EF. The main goal of this study is to analyze the voluntary decision to access EF depending on KR and KCR feedback received immediately after answering questions from a science text. Secondary students received corrective feedback according to the condition assigned: KR, KCR, or control (i.e., non-corrective feedback). Afterwards, all the students could access EF, that included an explanation about the knowledge assessed. Results suggest that receiving KR and KCR feedback decreases the use of EF compared to control feedback, although there are no differences in the final learning.

Alternate abstract:

Plain Language Summary

Answering questions from a text and receiving formative feedback is a common academic task (Ness, 2011) that can be delivered in digital environments (Shute & Rahimi, 2017). Formative feedback refers to any information provided to the students about their performance to improve their learning (Shute, 2008). Formative feedback embraces a range of feedback types. A common distinction is usually made between corrective and elaborative feedback. Corrective feedback provides students with Knowledge of Response or KR (correct/incorrect) or Knowledge of Correct Response or KCR (The correct answer is X). Elaborated Feedback or EF usually contains additional information beyond students’ performance such as explanations or hints. A recent review study suggests that EF is the most effective type of feedback to enhance learning in digital environments, KCR feedback has a lower effect, and KR does not influence learning outcomes (van der Kleij, Feskens, & Eggen, 2015).

In order to be effective, students have to engage actively in processing its content (Bangert-Drowns, Kulik, Kulik, & Morgan, 1991). However, little research has explored how students process feedback in digital environments. Recent findings suggest that students tend to focus their attention on knowing the accuracy of their responses and the correct answer even when EF is received (Lefevre & Cox, 2016; Máñez et al., 2019). Although EF is usually provided along with corrective feedback, little is known about the effect of receiving KR and KCR feedback on a student’s decision to use EF. Thus, our study examines the extent to which corrective KR and KCR feedback may influence a student’s decision to voluntarily access EF when answering questions from a science text in a digital environment. Likewise, this study also examines whether these types of feedback influence the student’s performance when learning conceptual knowledge in the area of physics.

Method

Sixty-seven 9th-grade students (Mage = 15, SD = .82) participated in the study (52.2% were male and 47.8% were female). All participants were Spanish native speakers from two schools of Valencia (Spain). All the students had studied Natural Sciences and Physics according to the Spanish curriculum. After measuring his/her prior knowledge, each participant was assigned to one of the three experimental groups that varied in the type of corrective feedback delivered: KR, KCR, or control (i.e., non-corrective feedback). For the comprehension task, students read a science text about the atmospheric pressure and wind phenomenon and answered a set of multiple-choice questions with the text available in Read&Learn, a web-based application that traces students’ behaviors. After answering each question, Read&Learn delivered corrective feedback automatically depending on the experimental condition assigned. Whereas students in the KR group received information on their response correctness (correct/incorrect), students in the KCR group were informed about the correct response (The correct answer is X), and students in the control group received non-corrective feedback (e.g., “You have answered question number X”). After receiving these feedback messages, all the students had the option to voluntarily access EF made of an explanation to infer the correct response without stating it explicitly. For instance, for the question “Is the air density the same in all points of the earth?” (Correct response: “No, because it varies depending on the temperature and the altitude”), the EF message is “Think that the air density is determined by how close or separated the particles are, and that depends on the external conditions”. Finally, participants answered a final learning task with new short-answer questions 24 hours later. Read&Learn recorded the student’s decisions to access EF, which were conditioned to question-answering success. We computed two performance scores: comprehension task performance and final learning task performance as the percentage of correct responses.

Results

To address the first aim, to analyze the effect of corrective feedback (KR, KCR, and control) on the use of EF, we conducted Kruskal-Wallis tests for both the percentage of students who accessed the EF and the percentage of EF accesses. Significant differences were found for both measures as a function of the type of corrective feedback received. The Jonckheere tests revealed a significant trend in the data, indicating that as the corrective feedback includes more specific information about the response (KR and KCR feedback), the use of EF decreases significantly. That is, fewer students decided to access EF and lower rates of accesses appeared, especially when corrective feedback included the correct response (i.e., KCR). To better understand the effect of the type of corrective feedback on the use of EF, we took into account the question-answering success (correct vs. incorrect responses). The Wilcoxon tests revealed that students in the control group accessed EF in a similar fashion after providing either correct or incorrect responses. However, students in the KR and KCR feedback groups accessed EF more frequently after providing incorrect responses (see Figure 4).

To address our second aim, to examine the effect of feedback type on the students’ performance, we conducted two ANCOVAs and regression analyses for both comprehension task performance and final learning task performance. ANCOVAs’ results revealed no significant differences as a function of feedback type. Students’ prior knowledge significantly explained both performance measures. For the final learning task performance, regression analyses showed that the student’s prior knowledge, the corrective feedback type, and the EF use significantly predicted the student’s outcomes.

Discussion

It is common to assume that students process EF when received. Recent research suggests that this is not always the case, probably because of the corrective feedback provided along with the EF. Regarding our first goal, results showed a trend in the EF use based on the corrective feedback provided. Providing KR and KCR feedback seems to discourage students from accessing EF to some extent, probably because many students focus on knowing the answer correctness (Máñez et al., 2019). Students who do not know if their answers are correct tend to access EF quite often, probably looking for clues to confirm their response model or to uncover the correct answer. Receiving KR feedback triggers lower rates of EF accesses, since students tend to use EF after failure. Students who received KCR feedback seldom access EF, probably because they consider unnecessary to process additional information when they already know the correct response. Moreover, results indicate that KR and KCR feedback’s main function is to verify the student’s response model and hence increase the use of EF after failure (Fox, Klein Entink, & Timmers, 2014), since students struggle to monitor the accuracy of their responses. Regarding our second goal, results revealed no differences among the feedback types, which is consistent with recent findings in the areas of text comprehension and science learning (Golke, Dörfler, & Artelt, 2015; Maier, Wolf, & Randler, 2016). This result can be explained based on the EF use each experimental group made. The greater use of EF in the control and KR feedback groups may have compensated for the positive effect of knowing the correct answer in the KCR group. Overall, findings suggest that students access EF in an effort to know the correct answer since they use EF as a function of the type of corrective feedback in combination with the accuracy of their responses. This study contributes to our understanding of how secondary-school students engage in processing formative feedback when learning conceptual knowledge and provides valuable information for the design of digital learning environments.

Details

Title
¿Influye la Retroalimentación Correctiva en el Uso de la Retroalimentación Elaborada en un Entorno Digital?
Author
Máñez, Ignacio
Pages
57-65
Section
research-article
Publication year
2020
Publication date
2020
ISSN
1135755X
e-ISSN
21740526
Source type
Scholarly Journal
Language of publication
Spanish
ProQuest document ID
2478588630
Copyright
© 2020. This work is licensed under https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/deed.es_ES (the “License”). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.