Academic Feedback: Use and Covariates of Use in College

Abstract

Academic feedback (AF) is considered a central factor in the development of efficient teaching and learning. However, AF only serves its purpose when students actually use it to alter the gap between their current and desired performance. This study explored college students self-reported frequencies of reading and using AF in different tasks, and investigated the factors that influence or relate to student’s frequencies of reading and using AF, including a set of individual academic characteristics (e.g., academic entitlement, academic motivation, and self-compassion) and a set of AF characteristics (e.g., quality of AF, usefulness of AF, course design elements, and structure of AF). Results indicated students reported reading AF “most of the time” on average, which was more frequent than their reported use of AF. Academic motivation, work avoidance, self-kindness and common humanity were consistently related to students’ reported frequencies of reading and using AF across two different multivariate analysis: cluster analysis and canonical correlation. The quality, timeliness, and usefulness of AF were the most influential factors on students’ reported AF use behaviors. Using these findings, educators can better understand the potential internal and external factors influencing student use of AF, and in turn develop teaching practices and course elements that more effectively support and encourage using AF in students’ learning process. Additionally, institutions can use these findings to determine what kinds of resources would allow instructors to facilitate AF use.