Do Online Formative Assessments Providing Customized Feedback and Revision Opportunities Promote Greater Learning in Students?

• In Event: Classroom Assessment Research on Interventions and Student Learning

Abstract

This study empirically compares the learning gains produced from two feedback systems that are designed as part of written formative assessments. The first feedback system employs a collective approach to providing and acting on feedback, where these activities are undertaken through a classroom discussion serving the needs of the class as a whole. The second type adopts a customized approach where anonymous feedback is provided to each individual (by a peer and an expert) and customized to individual needs. Each student then acts on the feedback by revising and resubmitting the response. The results reveal that both feedback systems advance learning but the individualized feedback system produces gains that are 2.2 times that of the collective feedback system.

Authors

• Sania Zahra Zaidi, University of Michigan

• Nancy Butler Songer, Drexel University