Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
INTRODUCTION
student achievement than any of the most power-
ful instructional interventions, intensive reading
instruction, one-on-one tutoring, and the like”
(Russo & Bensen, 2005, p. 276). The result of
formative assessment is usually represented by
feedback. In Sadler's (1989) point of view, ef-
fective feedback not only needs to be closely
associated to performance standards, but also
provides appropriate strategies for students to
make improvement. For example, with respect
to a misconception expressed by a student, an
instructor's comment that is perceptive while
being constructive may be, “Jennie, I understand
this point here. However, focusing solely on “fun”
activities is inappropriate. Please review Chapter
6 again along with our guidelines for this assign-
ment to enhance your understanding. Then, please
write back to me with your renewed understanding
of this concept. Please feel free to contact me if
an additional explanation is needed. Thank you!”
This feedback along with many other comments
given to the student's work is detailed, which
conveys teacher immediacy cues, such as calling
the student by her first name at the beginning of
a comment, acknowledging the understanding of
the point made, explaining clearly why rereading
is necessary, providing constructive suggestions
for subsequent improvement, and showing care
about the student learning by letting the student
know that the instructor is willing to assist her.
This type of formative assessment and feedback
not only facilitates this student learning, but also
shows the responsibility of the instructor. In addi-
tion, with the use of computer-mediated text-based
communication system, the instructor's response
can be delivered quickly to the student, which
benefits student learning, since timely feedback
constructively reinforces acquired concepts
(Berge, 1995).
With the reflection and rethinking through
the process of revision requested by the instruc-
tor, the student's understanding of the concept
improves. The appropriate scaffolding may
motivate the student to explore and read more in
Most students favor feedback from an instructor
to their assignments that informs them of whether
or not their finished work is on the right track, as a
student commented, “I like being made sure that I
am on the right direction.” However, sometimes,
if students receive such feedback, “This is a good
point,” they may not be appreciative of the instruc-
tor's effort. One student explained, “I would like
to know why this is a good point.” If a grade or
score that a student receives denotes less satisfac-
tory work or if a general comment provided by an
instructor reads, “This is not up to the expectation”
without any or much justification for it, a certain
level of frustration may quickly arise. The student
would like to know, “Why did my work fail to
meet the expectations.” Some students may even
feel resentful when an instructor's comment is
judgmental: “This is incorrect.” These types of
poor feedback are not conducive to student learn-
ing, as there is a lack of specific information as
to why the work is insufficiently accomplished
and how to reach the criteria or objectives of an
assignment. Likewise, a grade or score does not
enable students to know how to improve their
work either, as it tends to assess students' work for
evaluation, making students become competitive
with peers for grades or scores (Harlen & Crick,
2003; Nicol & MacFarlane-Dick).
Assessing student's work is for the purpose of
teaching and learning as written assignments or
learning activities afford students avenues to de-
velop a coherent understanding of course content.
An instructor's feedback to students' submitted
assignments is instructional coaching through as-
sessment, assisting students in a thoughtful transfer
of knowledge and skills to new situations (Chang
& Petersen, 2006). Thus, assessment should be
part of the instructional process and be treated
as formative assessment, but not as summative
assessment all the time.
“Formative assessment, effectively imple-
mented, can do as much or more to improve
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