Abstract:

Increasing feedback provision to students has been a dominant approach in higher education to support their self-regulated learning. In most contexts, academic instructors are the main, often preferred and usually privileged source of such feedback which places immense demands on instructors. With increasing student numbers and expanding instructor role demands, the time-consuming nature of this endeavor and the quality and value of instructor feedback to students has been questioned. This paper focuses on self-generated student feedback based on comparison tasks that can supplement and even replace instructor feedback as a key component of student self-directed learning.

Students engaged in learning tasks are constantly comparing their work not just with instructor feedback they receive, but also with other artefacts such as task instructions, grading rubrics, instructor-provided exemplars, the work of peers, instructional material and readings, among many others. Students use the outcomes of such ubiquitous comparison processes as drivers of self-regulated learning (Butler & Winne, 1995; Nicol, 2019). We discuss methods for how such comparison can be integrated into existing teaching practice and explore the implications for instructional practice and the roles of educators and students.

We collected data from experienced educators across different disciplines in a research- intensive university setting. The thematic data analyses show that educators use comparison both deliberately and serendipitously in ways aligned with their particular teaching philosophies and practices to support student self-regulated learning and to achieve specific leaning outcomes. We outline a three-step process for incorporating such comparison-based feedback into existing teaching approaches that begins with 1) the student development of a piece of work, 2) a comparator(s) is provided through some referent material, and 3) finishes with a student reflection on or further development of their work. Preliminary findings suggest that though initially challenging for many students, when administered effectively this approach provides highly useful self-generated feedback, supports relevant skill-building, and enables educators to focus on guiding students to effective self-directed learning processes.

Keywords:

Feedback, comparison, self-regulated learning, higher education.