Background  Work as a writing program administrator (WPA)  Instructor assumptions about feedback  Some preliminary research questions

Survey  Design  Population  Response Rate

Kinds of Feedback  In-text, sentence-level corrections and comments  Marginal comments  End-of-essay paragraphs  Rubric-based comments  Audio comments  Video comments  Peer review  Comments in D2L dropbox  No feedback  Face-to-face/Conference  In-class feedback from your instructor

Most Often Received Forms of Feedback  Marginal Comments  Peer Review  End-of-Essay Paragraphs  In-text, sentence-level corrections and comments  Rubric-based comments

Most Useful Kinds of Feedback  Marginal  “Marginal comments because the instructor is able to show you exactly where you did something wrong and how to improve it.”  “The marginal comments because I know where exactly I need to fix my essay.”  Face-to-Face  “Face-to-face conference because the way something is written could mean something different than what the instructor was trying to say. The instructor could have meant it one way and the student could have taken it another so meeting face-to-face is easier to make sure the professor and student are on the same page.”

Most Useful Feedback for Revision  Peer Review (over 50 %)  “Peer review is useful for revisions because your peers are often times the audience.”  “Peer feedback because they tend to see something the way you do and are able to give you feedback and help from a point of view that is close to your own.”  Face-to-Face  “Face-to-face with written comments. The written comments help remind you what you can improve on and need to change but the face-to-face interaction is why kids choose to come to UW-L—to have the personal relationship with professors.”

What Kinds of Feedback Students Want More Of  Face-to-Face  “Face-to-face feedback so I can hear EXACTLY what was good and what was bad.”  “Face-to-face conference because the professor knows exactly what they want in a paper and it is helpful when you can sit down with them and have them guide you in the direction you should be going to receive a good grade.”  “Face-to-face, it would be the most helpful to hear from the prof what he wants on the paper.

Most Useful Feedback for Writing in Other Courses  Face-to-Face  “Face-to-face, because talking to one professor about how to better yourself is no different than talking to another professor.”  Peer Review  “Peer review because you then know how people think when they read your paper and how to aim it towards your specific audience.”  Marginal Comments  “Marginal comments so I can see clearly what the teacher wants.”

Other Findings  Students report that they receive plenty of training on how to use instructor feedback.  Over 80% of students feel that at least some of the feedback they receive from their instructors is positive.  70% of students claim that they understand the feedback provided by their instructors.

What About the Grade?  Rank the following from most to least important:  The grade you receive on a writing assignment.  The process of learning to write, regardless of your grade.  The feedback you receive on a writing assignment.

Future Research  A longitudinal study that follows a group of students through the course of their undergraduate career in order to better understand:  how student use of feedback changes over time.  how feedback functions as a genre.  how disciplinary training affects how students use feedback.  how feedback works in a “post-process” era.

Thanks