Masaryk University Faculty of Arts

Role of Feedback

In the specific and general feedback, the former concentrates on student’s performance in given tasks and the latter reviews their progress in relation to the course objectives. Ros i Solé and Truman (2005) maintain that specific feedback concentrates on what was done wrong – on faults and mistakes – and offers suggestions on their correction (p. 81). With this kind of feedback a student is directed back to his or her work to reflect on it, analyse mistakes and, if possible, rework the parts of the task in question. Hurd (2005) also notes that mistake-oriented feedback improves student’s skills of self-correction and self-monitoring (p. 6). Provided that a student is motivated to improve, he or she will indeed try to avoid the same mistakes in the future, a less motivated student, on the other hand, may pay only as much attention as is needed to find correct answers. One way to avoid this is not to provide actual corrections but only guidance on how and where to look for them; this can also accustom students not to expect to find simple and ready-made answers when conducting research. The aforementioned authors (Ros i Solé & Truman, 2005) classify general feedback as focusing on advice and commentaries; according to them, it performs ‘an overarching function’ and focuses on how ‘to close the gap on actual and desired performance’ (p. 81). This approach to feedback can be identified as learner-centred, with the teacher allowing students to create their own knowledge and guiding their progress.

The timing in provision of feedback is important as well because students are quite likely to be more perceptive to comments at some points of the learning process than at another. Leki (1990) stresses the when and how over the quantity of teacher’s comments (as cited in Ros i Solé and Truman, 2005, p. 83). Indeed, although feedback should occur continuously throughout the course, it is necessary to differentiate between specific and general depending on the task. General feedback should be provided less frequently, for example after initial, intermediate and final assessments, as the teacher has to see the learning curve, and only based on it make constructive comments on the student’s progress. Specific feedback can happen after each small task in the form of acknowledgement of correctness, as a suggestion on where to look for the answer or as a hint on how to proceed with the task. In fact, feedback immediately after the task or in the process of it can arguably be very beneficial for students because it prompts them to re-examine the answer when they are still focused on the task and are most open to someone else’s input related to it (Weasenforth, Meloni & Biesenbach-Lucas, 2005, p. 208).

On a final note, commentary on student’s mistakes should take place in a blame-free environment to eliminate the anxiety associated with the desire to avoid making a mistake or to conceal it. Hills (2003) observes that if the blame allocation is a part of the teaching practice, than learners will try to hide their mistakes from others and from themselves (p. 80). This issue is relevant for e-learning as much as for face-to-face education. Although it is a computer that displays the response to an incomplete or an incorrect answer, there is a teacher who programs the VLE to show particular feedback and who writes or provides oral feedback to larger tasks. Thus, it comes back to creating a learning-friendly atmosphere so that students can concentrate more on tasks in hand and less on the feeling of unease. In addition, if a student is preoccupied with how not to write or say something they will be blamed for, they are more likely to concentrate on the answer than on the process of looking for it, which is more valuable for promotion of the learner autonomy. A single answer within the course is probably of lesser value than the method of arriving at this answer that can be acquired in the course and later applied to tasks in and outside the course. Students need to be informed that mistakes are an inherent part of learning and that it is highly unlikely to learn anything without making a few of them.

3. Role of Motivation

Hurd (2005) recognizes that motivation is quite often a ‘determining factor of whether to study or not in the first place’ and continues to state that it remains crucial throughout the course ‘for enjoyment, goal-setting and retention’ (p. 9). Indeed, if a student sees personal gain in the course, that is, it can be interesting and/or beneficial for them (intrinsic factors); he or she is likely to enrol. In e-learning, one of the initial attractions along with intrinsic factors can be the use of technology. According to, for example, Evans (2009), ICT promotes the increase in interest and motivation of students (p. 92). Since computers and mobile devices are an integral part of many students’ lives anyway, the opportunity to enjoy temporal and spatial freedom and simultaneously stay connected with various popular Internet platforms would seem highly attractive. Also, the relative novelty of a fully online mode of education can spur novice e-learners’ interest (Lewis & Whitlock, 2003) and bring diversity of tools into the familiar learning process, such as the innovative use of media and interactivity.

For university students, extrinsic elements also contribute to motivation, although possibly not as strongly as the intrinsic ones. Besnon, Donelly and Kirk (2012) supply a learner motivation model where motivation is divided, based on whether it is extrinsic or intrinsic and positive or negative (p. 43). The authors exemplify positive extrinsic motivation with the need to pass the course successfully. Indeed, all students are familiar with the pressure to fulfil curriculum requirements; hence some may participate in courses in which they do not have personal interest, at least initially. Another possibility is that extrinsic motivation is combined with intrinsic one: a student has interest in the course or sees it as beneficial and is motivated to complete it because of the curriculum, which is an ideal situation. In case of the former, positive extrinsic motivation can degrade into negative extrinsic motivation; the authors explain it as ‘I can still pass this course without these marks and would be better off spending time on other activities’ (p. 43). This shift from positive to negative motivation can particularly affect e-learners if they do not have enough teacher and peer support and if identification with the learner community is lacking.

Thus, if a student had only extrinsic motivation from the start and when initial enthusiasm and excitement wear off; strong support from both the teacher and fellow students is needed not to drop the course and to take full advantage of the learning opportunities it offers. In order to do so, the teacher has to establish, as mentioned above, a learning-friendly atmosphere, in which support is provided in the form of, for example, celebration of achievements, encouragement and fuelling of students’ curiosity with extra learning resources. Socialization through collaboration can also be an answer to the lack of motivation. Dolly (2007) claims that ‘early and consistent collaboration ensures high motivation’ (as cited in Müller-Hartmann & Schocker-v. Ditfurth, 2010, p. 30). If students come in contact with each other from the early stages of the course, it might be able to, first, enhance their learning, and second, to develop an appreciation for other students’ concerns, thus bring students to the realization that they relate to others through the difficulties they may be experiencing. This strategy, in addition to support by the teacher and other students through peer-review activities, contributes to the promotion of the value of the learner community and has positive impact on the motivation level.

Lastly, it is indisputable that the ability to find and maintain one’s motivation is crucial for an autonomous learner in order to be successful; it is, at the same time, feasible that this relationship works in the opposite direction a well. In the beginning of a course or the learning process as a whole, motivation can be a factor in the development of autonomy skills in that it can give a student that initial impulse to go and explore on one’s own and to familiarize with the tools that work best according to his or hers individual preferences. In the subsequent stages, a moment may appear when it will be the positive results that will stimulate further drive and enthusiasm. Thus, it may be more appropriate to talk about, as Yang (1999) puts it, cyclical relationship between learner motivation and success (as cited in Hurd, 2005, p. 10). If a student sees that the chosen strategy produces desirable outcomes, than they can be motivated to continue to apply and improve it further. Moreover, some researchers claim that motivation and autonomy share certain primary concepts. For example, Dickinson (1995) maintains that they are ‘learner independence, learners responsibility and learner choice’. These concepts also entail decision-making, critical reflection and detachment (as cited in Hurd, 2005, p. 9). Therefore, the ability of an independent and responsible student to exercise choice in combination with the critical approach to the subject can be identified as central to the concepts of autonomy and motivation and overall indicate a successful student in both online and traditional environments.

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