Not Motivated to Use Feedback? How Self-Efficacy and Achievement Goals Matter for Students' Feedback Use

• In Event: The Interplay of Feedback and Motivation: Perspectives on How Context, Student, and Feedback Characteristics Matter

Abstract

Feedback has repeatedly been documented as being a powerful tool for learning (Hattie & Timperley, 2007). To harvest the power that feedback promises for learning, characteristics of the learners also need to be considered. Specifically, students’ motivations can be expected to matter for how they react to and use feedback (Sherf & Morrison, 2019; VandeWalle et al., 2000). High self-efficacy should enable students to work with feedback, even if the required tasks may be perceived as difficult (Bandura, 1997). Additionally, students’ achievement goals can be expected to influence how they view and implement feedback: Learning goals can be expected to elicit favorable reactions to feedback, as a focus on improving own competencies should go along with greater value ascribed to learning tasks and perceiving feedback as helpful for reaching their goals. Conversely, performance-avoidance goals, focused on avoiding appearing incompetent, should elicit negative attitudes towards feedback, as feedback could reveal weaknesses in their work. The same holds true for performance-approach goals (focused on appearing competent), however, for individuals with such goals, attending to feedback diligently might also be helpful in order to excel, rendering unclear expectations for this type of goal. Finally, work-avoidance can be expected to go along with reduced use of feedback, given that implementing feedback requires putting forth additional resources that work-avoidant individuals try to avoid.

Against this background, we investigated how achievement goals and self-efficacy are related to students’ use of formative feedback. Specifically, we considered how and to which quantitative and qualitative extent they intended to use it. Besides direct effects on the use of feedback, we hypothesized indirect linkages through task value and perceived helpfulness of feedback (see Figure 1 for a visualization).

We conducted a longitudinal field study within a seminar at a German university in which students needed to complete and revise weekly written assignments. The procedure, hypotheses, and analyses were preregistered prior to data collection. A total of 218 students (133 female, mean age: 20.77, SD=2.49, years) assessed their achievement goals for the course at the semester start. Five weeks later, they wrote an argumentative essay which they received feedback on. With the feedback, they assessed their self-efficacy for revising their assignment, the associated task value (intrinsic value and costs), and the perceived helpfulness of the feedback. They also rated their intention for revision, and, after revision, the subjective amount of revision and the quality of improvement. Table 1 documents all scales and their reliabilities.

Following our preregistration, we conducted structural equation modelling to test our hypotheses. The results (Table 2) revealed that learning approach goals and self-efficacy beliefs indirectly mattered for students’ revision of their assignments based on the feedback through increased helpfulness of the feedback and less associated costs that they perceived. Moreover, we found evidence that performance-avoidance and work-avoidance goals were directly linked to the extent to which students used the feedback and the resulting quality.

Taken together, these results illustrate that, through differences in their perceptions and use of feedback, learning goals and self-efficacy beliefs matter for how well students can harness the power of feedback for their learning and achievement.

Authors

• Melanie V. Keller, University of Augsburg
  Presenting Author

• Markus Dresel, University of Augsburg
  Non-Presenting Author

• Martin Daumiller, University of Augsburg
  Non-Presenting Author