Abstract:

It is now widely accepted that formative feedback is essential to students’ learning (Biggs and Tang 2007; Carless 2006; Carless et al. 2006; Race 2007). Formative assessment is feedback given to students that is intended to improve their performance (Black and William 2003) and is typically associated with detailed information on how they can better their grades. This differs significantly from summative assessment which is where the student receives a final grade with no indication as to how they may improve their work. The general consensus is that formative feedback is a positive measure (Biggs 1998) with research in this area focussed on its effects, some of which include student achievement gains, increased intrinsic motivation and increased self-efficacy (Yorke 2003). While many are cognisant of the benefits of formative feedback to students’ learning, the actual implementation of feedback varies considerably from one lecturer to another. With a greater need for assessment methods that enhance student-centred learning (Nicol and Macfarlane-Dick 2006), one of such means through which to achieve this is to provide students with feedback in the form of audio.

In recent years audio feedback has gained increased interest as a means through which to disseminate feedback to students as it is a way in which lecturers can provide feedback in a timely, relevant and meaningful way (Rotheram 2007). Research on audio feedback is relatively limited, however to date, research has examined audio feedback’s effect on student satisfaction, perceived learning, improved instructor interaction (Ice et al. 2007) and also tentative research on students’ perceptions of it as a feedback mechanism (Merry and Orsmond 2007). The current study seeks to extend this line of research by quantitatively examining students’ overall perceptions of audio feedback while also examining whether gender and course level has an impact on perceptions. Findings indicate that while no differences exist between male and female students, significant differences are found between postgraduate and undergraduate students. Furthermore, qualitative analysis of a number of open ended questions is also discussed with a number of key issues raised. The paper will conclude by providing recommendations to practitioners on the use of audio feedback.

Keywords:

Formative assessment, formative feedback, audio feedback.