newman's master's thesis on audio and typed feedback

8/14/2019 Newman's Master's Thesis on Audio and Typed Feedback

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The Impact of Typed and Spoken Feedback on Efficient Grading and Effective Revision

Brian J. Neman

S!bmitted for "omp#etion of the $aster of %rts in Eng#ish St!dies

&r. &ianne "hambers and &r. $ary 'ay $!#vaney

J!ne ()* (++,


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Abstract

&espite n!mero!s st!dies detai#ing the ca!ses of Eng#ish teacher b!rno!t* morespecifica##y those teaching composition* teachers sti## #ook for more ays to be efficient

and he#pf!# in directing st!dents thro!gh feedback. $icrosoft -ord inc#!des options forinserting typed comments and voice comments by one assessing a piece of riting.sing both of these concepts on timed essays for an %/ Eng#ish 0 c#ass* I meas!red the!se of typed and voice comments in to ays1 to see if either ay he#ps me to commenton a c#ass set of essays more 2!ick#y* and to see hich prod!ces better res!#ts for st!dentriting. $y initia# e3pectations ere that typed comments o!#d be more he#pf!#beca!se the st!dents co!#d see my s!ggestions4 hoever* the voice comments #ed to mores!ccessf!# revisions. In addition* I saved an average of to min!tes per essay byinserting voice comments to assess the essays.


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The Impact of Typed and Spoken Feedback on Efficient Grading and Effective Revision

Introduction

Eng#ish teachers have #ong str!gg#ed ith grading st!dent essays. 6o m!ch do

e rite7 -hat do e rite7 &o e have time to #et them revise7 &o I foc!s more on

content or grammar7 &o I circ#e their mistakes or #et them find them7 &o I rite #onger

termina# comments or more fre2!ent#y thro!gho!t the paper7 %nsers to these 2!estions

remain f#!id* changing based on st!dent pop!#ation* the p!rpose for the assignment*

co!rse #oad for the teacher* and any n!mber of factors that contrib!te to an Eng#ish

teacher8s abi#ity to positive#y inf#!ence st!dent riting.

The idea of initiating some kind of conversation seems to be a thread fo!nd in a

n!mber of st!dies. This conversation may #itera##y take p#ace* if a teacher has the #!3!ry

of time for riting conferences* or it may be a series of piecemea# conversations thro!gh

a teacher8s comments on a paper and a st!dent8s response on a s!bse2!ent draft. $ore

specifica##y* teachers can ask 2!estions of st!dents in the paper and st!dents can respond

thro!gh revision. 6o one asks these 2!estions and makes these comments has evo#ved

over the years. In the ear#y9to9mid95:,+s* teachers e3perimented ith tape9recorded

comments. -hi#e this form e3hibited benefits for st!dents and teachers* it fai#ed to take

in #arge n!mbers probab#y d!e to the !nie#diness of co##ecting this many cassettes* or

perhaps d!e to the #ocation prob#em of trying to find a p#ace to record.

-hat has come o!t of the idea of the spoken ord for revision has been the

importance of tone. 6o a teacher s!ggests revision has become as important as hat

the teacher act!a##y s!ggests* and many ed!cators fai# to consider ho a st!dent may see

comments #ike ;ak.< and ;c#arity< on an essay. &o teachers rite these comments


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beca!se they sho!#d be c#ear and he#pf!# to the st!dent* or co!#d the teachers =!st be tired

of riting so m!ch ith so #itt#e ret!rn7 By making #onger comments hedged ith

s!ggestions s!ch as ;maybe yo! co!#d>< or ;have yo! considered>< as the #ead9ins*

st!dents have proved to be more responsive to teachers8 comments.

-riting these f!##9sentence comments may be too tedio!s* hoever* and teachers

need to stream#ine the a#ready e3ha!stive process of grading essays. ti#i?ing the

e3isting techno#ogy can he#p ith this prob#em. $icrosoft -ord comes ith f!nctions

for recording voice comments and inserting typed comments. -ith comp!ters in most

ho!seho#ds for st!dents* and in most c#assrooms for teachers* this medi!m becomes a

more appea#ing option. If many teachers type faster than they rite* perhaps inserting

typed comments in sentence format o!#d not be that gr!e#ing. For teachers ho prefer

to convey their messages thro!gh speaking* perhaps this option appea#s to them* a##oing

teachers to offer comp#ete tho!ghts by speaking them rather than trying to rite them.

In considering the options* I intended to try both typed and voice comments and

see hich I prefer and hich my st!dents prefer. I as conscio!s of time* and considered

my tone in each comment* a## of hich appear as comp#ete sentences. $y hypothesis

as that the typed comments o!#d be more appea#ing to me and to the st!dents. I

predicted I o!#d #ike these better beca!se editing a tho!ght goes m!ch more 2!ick#y

hen typing. I be#ieved st!dents o!#d #ike typed comments better beca!se vis!a##y*

they i## act!a##y see the s!ggestions ne3t to the high#ighted area as opposed to =!st an

a!dio icon aiting to be c#icked to revea# the s!ggestion.

I fig!red that if I did end !p #iking the a!dio comments more it o!#d be beca!se

I co!#d do it hands free and it o!#d prove to be more time effective. If the st!dents #iked


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the time to rite more7 Is the act!a# act of riting so tedio!s and time cons!ming that

teachers demand #ess riting assignments from st!dents not beca!se the st!dents are

sophisticated riters* b!t beca!se time =!st does not a##o for more assignments7

-hether e rite terse* imperative comments #ike* ;se better dictionA< or

e#aborate ith #onger comments abo!t o!r h!rt fee#ings that the st!dents did not heed o!r

in9c#ass directions* teachers str!gg#e ith knoing hat to rite in order to make

st!dents better riters. In his artic#e* ;Theory of Responding to St!dent -riting*< ".-.

Griffin capt!res the myriad fr!strations in ho e as Eng#ish teachers he#p st!dents hen

he asks* ;-hat kinds of comments are most effective7 Sho!#d they be primari#y

descriptive or eva#!ative7 %nd here do o!r responses foc!s7 &o e tend to foc!s on

intrinsic or e3trinsic feat!res7 %#so* hat kinds of ass!mptions are e making hen e

foc!s on one set of feat!res as opposed to another7< C(::D. /erhaps o!r foc!s sho!#d

concentrate not on#y on o!r p!rposeforthe riting* b!t o!r p!rpose as teachersof

riting1 Is increasing c#arity more important than e#iminating fre2!ent comma sp#ices7

&oes a eak thesis deserve more g!idance than fre2!ent errors in s!b=ectverb

agreement7 %s Eng#ish teachers* e m!st not on#y e3amine hat e say* b!t a#so ho

and hy e are saying it.

The tone imp#icit in a teacher8s response on an essay can often have more of an

impact that the act!a# ords themse#ves. Richard Stra!b fo!nd that st!dents ;did not

respond e## to comments that they fe#t ere e3pressed in a high#y =!dgmenta# ay< C2td.

in Bardeen* Bardeen and &eegan :D. Interesting#y as e##* Stra!b fo!nd that st!dents

;preferred praise on their riting on#y hen the praise had an e3p#anation as to hy it

as praiseorthy< C:D. The danger some teachers recogni?e Cand others !nfort!nate#y


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ignoreD is that any response a teacher ;might intend as constr!ctive criticism can be

interpreted by that st!dent as persona# criticism rather than comment on the ork

presented< C"rone9B#evins :D. To address this* $argie 'rest e3p#ains ho she orks

both positive comments and negative into one feedback point1 ;Ho!r sentence str!ct!re

and mechanics are great* b!t I fee# #ost beca!se I8m not s!re of yo!r point< C0+D. -hat

'rest does here is fo##o the advice of &avid $orand* ho disc!sses ;s!rro!nding the

criticisms!ggestion ith positive comments to soften its impact< C$orand 2td. in 'rest

)D. $orand8s origina# st!dy disc!sses ;stat!s #eve#ing* the red!ction of poer

differentia#s among s!perior and s!bordinate actors


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deve#ops here in sacrificing thoro!ghness for e3pediency is that st!dents may on#y see

their s!rface errors4 that is if they !nderstand the coded marking system at a##. If teachers

fee# p!t off by minima#ist grading and instead fee# compe##ed to give st!dents their f!##

attention by correcting every error in every essay* i## the st!dent even read the teachers8

comments7 Lirginia aFontana asks* ;-eren8t they gratef!# for my tracking don every

error in an effort to p!rge their prob#ems of grammar* spe##ing and p!nct!ation before I

sent them off to co##ege7 M>&efinite#y not< C,5D. Some Eng#ish teachers vie

themse#ves as the #ast defense* that #ast great bastion of hope for st!dents to right a## their

riting rongs before entering their freshman composition c#asses in co##ege. These

teachers need to !nderstand that they cannot fi3 everything. Those teachers ho

s!bscribe to the 2!a#ity of comments vs. the 2!antity have investigated ays to make this

easier and may have fo!nd it in ta#king.

@ne ay to ease the riting b!rden is to p!t don the red pen a#together. %s

ear#y as 5:,)* teachers began !sing tape9recorded comments. Enno '#ammer rites*

;The instr!ctor can say m!ch more and say it more c#ear#y< than she co!#d !sing hand9

ritten comments on paper C2td. in %nderson and Speck (0D. Tape recording feedback

a##os teachers to offer comp#ete tho!ghts ith #ess effort than riting paragraphs or

even =!st comp#ete sentences by hand on st!dent essays. $ore than (+ years #ater in

5::* aFontana rote an essay forEnglish Journalproc#aiming the great benefits she

and her st!dents reaped from !sing taped comments. The fo!r e3amp#es of her spoken

comments in her essay each come in at over + ords. These comp#ete9sentence

s!mmaries of errors and praise ;make it possib#e for me to take a more ho#istic approach

to st!dent papers instead of getting #ost in a mass of detai#< C,(D. &espite these benefits*


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s!ffice it to say this method has not e3act#y s!perceded the handritten comments in

most c#assrooms. oe# 'im thinks perhaps ;co##ecting a!diotapes a#ong ith copies of

st!dent assignments* keeping track of them* and then retaining them is too c!mbersome

newman's master's thesis on audio and typed feedback

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