audio feedback – better feedback?

Audio feedback – better feedback?*

Susanne Voelkel & Luciane V. MelloSchool of Life Sciences

*funded by the eLearing Steering Group, UoL

“Feedback is one of the most powerful influences on learning

and achievement”*

* Hattie & Timperley, 2007

Effective feedback answers 3 questions*:

• Where am I going? – (the goals)

• How am I going?– “feed-back”

• Where to next?– “feed- forward”

* Hattie & Timperley, 2007

Good quality feedback – students’ view*

• Detailed information on how to improve• Applicable to future work• Personal• Timely

* Student focus group, School of Life Sciences

But…. all is not well!

UoL

Can audio feedback help us provide better feedback?

Research questions

• Will audio feedback– Work?– Save staff time?– Increase student satisfaction?– Help students learn better?

Research design

• Two case studies– Undergraduate level– Postgraduate level

1. The undergraduate level project

• Year 3, class size 70• Low stake (10%) essay, exam conditions

(handwritten)• Class split randomly in half– 50% written feedback (comments)– 50% audio feedback (bullet points on script)

• Evaluation

2. The postgraduate level project

• M-level module• Class size 14• Group work assessment– Individual component– Purely formative

• All students receive audio feedback only• Evaluation

Methods

• Recording the feedback– Mobile digital voice recorder– Audio files (mp3 format)– Measure time (UG)

• Dissemination– By email

• Listening to the feedback– Mp3 player or computer

Evaluation

• Questionnaire– Response rate• 44% undergraduate• 93% postgraduate

• Interviews (10, UG)• Marks (UG)

Did it work? The technical side.

• No problems from staff or student side

Did audio feedback save staff time?

Time (min) Standard deviation

N

Audio feedback

16 + 8 31

Written feedback

11 + 3 31

Significant difference (p=0.002)

Did audio feedback increase student satisfaction?

After reading/ listening to my feedback, I fully understand my mark

written

audio

Postgrad

0 20 40 60 80 100

agreeneitherdisagreeUnder-

graduates

I understand what I need to do to get a better mark in the future

written

audio

Postgrad

0 20 40 60 80 100

agreeneitherdisagreeUnder-

graduates

The amount of feedback I got was

written

audio

Postgrad

0 20 40 60 80 100

definitely not enoughnot really enoughjust righttoo muchUnder-

graduates

The feedback I got was detailed enough

written

audio

Postgrad

0 20 40 60 80 100

agreeneitherdisagree

Under-graduates

My feedback was clear

written

audio

Postgrad

0 20 40 60 80 100

agreeneitherdisagreeUnder-

graduates

Written comments on audio feedbackUndergraduates

“It (the audio feedback) was very personal, I knew exactly what I had to do to make my mark better”

“…written feedback means that you have it there just to look at all the time and it’s a bit harder to go back and look at the audio feedback”

“you get a lot more honest opinion about (your work) and a lot more information I think on how to improve”

Written comments on audio feedbackPostgraduates

“Audio FB was very useful, I strongly feel more lecturers should adopt it as part of their teaching methods”

“Audio FB was fantastic and more detailed than just writing a few lines in text format”

Effects on student learning?

59.5

60

60.5

61

61.5

62

62.5

audiowritten

Ave

rage

mar

k (%

)

Formative Summative

Feedback

Research questions – the answers

• Will audio feedback– Work? yes– Save staff time? no– Increase student satisfaction? yes– Help students learn better? perhaps

Thank yousvoelkel@liv.ac.uk