Abstract:

This paper explored the area of effective feedback and whether undergraduate students use feedback to feed forward. In teacher training programs, this determination has become crucial because of the escalation in the number of formative assessments replacing summative assessments. A mixed methodology design was completed that involved participants that were undergraduate students who were education majors enrolled. An online application of a survey was used for data collection that was composed of 29 close-ended questions and 4 open-ended questions. The survey’s closed-ended questions referred to demographic information, as well as preference questions concerning feedback. The researchers found that the participating undergraduate students who were either Elementary Education majors or double majors in Elementary Education and Special Education appear to be driven solely by individual graded assignments and not the overall improvement of their critical thinking. A disconnect was revealed between professor and the students’ interpretation of that feedback. The conclusion revealed that students view individual assignment feedback as corrective of only that assignment as opposed to an indication of areas to improve on all future work.

Keywords:

Feedback forward, teacher training programs, online learning, mixed methodology.