Effects of Grading on Student Feedback Processing and Emotions: An Eye-Tracking Study

• In Event: Beyond Self-Report Measures: Unlocking Insights Into Cognitive and Affective Feedback Processes With Multimodal Data Sources

Abstract

Objectives
The present research utilizes eye tracking technology to examine students’ gaze when processing commented feedback on a test, either with or without an accompanying grade. We hypothesized that the presence of grades would affect (1) students‘ cognitive processing of written feedback (as evidenced by feedback revisits) and (2) their subjectively experienced emotions, while both effects should be moderated by performance on the test.

Theoretical Framework
In educational settings, students are constantly being assessed using grades. Research has shown that grades have a strong impact on students’ emotions (Lipnevich et al., 2021; Pekrun et al., 2023). Particularly for those students receiving low grades, negative emotional responses may hinder effective feedback processing (Pekrun, 2006). However, no study so far has specifically explored how the presentation of grades alongside corrective comments impacts students’ emotional outcomes and subsequent commented feedback processing.

Methods
We collected data from so far N = 37 6th grade students (Mage = 11.95; SDage = 0.46) from two high schools in southern Germany. Participants completed a ten-minute open-ended English as a foreign language test (task: “write an email to an imaginary friend”). All essays were scored using a standardized grading rubric. Participants were randomly assigned to one of two conditions: the comments only or the comments and grade condition. Both conditions received the same amount of annotations on the right margin of their essay, independent of the quality. We recorded participants’ gaze while receiving their feedback on a computer screen using 120hz eye trackers. We obtained number of revisits from the feedback to the essay text as an indicator of depth of feedback processing (Bouwer & Dirx, 2023). Lastly, participants completed a brief self-report questionnaire assessing how they felt during feedback reception (from bad to good).

Results
We calculated multiple linear regressions with experimental condition, performance, and their interaction, as predictors for emotional valence and feedback revisits. Preliminary results indicated no substantial main effects for condition (𝛽condition=.01) and performance (𝛽condition=.12) on emotional valence. However, as expected, the interaction was substantial in size (𝛽condition*performance=.58); qualified by a strong positive link between performance and emotional valence solely in the grade only condition.
For feedback revisits, we found small main effects of condition (𝛽condition=.20) and performance (𝛽condition=.19). Notably, while performance on the test was unrelated to feedback revisits in the comment only condition, in the grade condition, the performance positively predicted feedback revisits (𝛽condition*performance=.37).

Significance of Work
In summary, it seems that grades put low-achieving students at risk in two ways: First, they experience stronger negative emotional outcomes when receiving a poor grade. Secondly and more importantly, they refrain from deeply processing commented feedback they may receive alongside their grades. These results are in line with assumptions by the control-value theory as suggested by Pekrun (2006). Accordingly, educational practitioners need to specifically support the feedback processing for lower-achieving students, or consider handing out the commented feedback without a grade first. We are currently working on replicating our findings in a bigger and more diverse sample.

Authors

• David F. Sachs, Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich

• Anne C. Frenzel, University of Munich

• Ligia Tomazin, Graduate Center - CUNY

• Miriam Wünsch, University of Munich

• Anastasiya A. Lipnevich, City University of New York