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an effort to enhance knowledge. The instructor's
provision of formative feedback may also be
partially responsible for developing the skills of
self-motivation, self-monitoring, self-regulation,
and self-management, which are some of the es-
sential components for lifelong learning. Taken all
the aforementioned elements into consideration, it
is vital to analyzing and discussing the power of
the joint forces—human-to-human interaction (a
two-way interaction by means of formative feed-
back with the use of teacher immediacy behaviors)
and the computer-mediated communication tool
(a computer-mediated text-based communication
system) in student learning and in leading to pos-
sible lifelong learning. The purpose of this topic
chapter, therefore, is to help those responsible
for text-based instruction to learn how to provide
useful formative feedback for learners that will
lead to lifelong learning. To reach the end, this
chapter places the focus on the following sec-
tions: (1) Importance of Formative Assessment
and Feedback, (2) Feedback with High Teacher
Immediacy Cues to Positive Affect for Learning
and Lifelong Learning, (3) Limitations of Com-
puter Technology in the Provision of Feedback
with Nonverbal Teacher Immediacy Behaviors (4)
Significance of Blended Instruction: Joint Forces
of Technology and Human-to-Human Interaction,
(5) Practical Strategies and Experiences Concern-
ing Formative Feedback and Lifelong Learning,
(6) Conclusion, and (7) Implications.
performances, class activities, homework, and
tests, is part of formative assessment. As a result
of the analysis and in response to an action taken
by a student (the student's completed work), an
instructor generates educational feedback benefit-
ing student learning (Mason & Bruning, 1999).
Specifically, the purpose of transmitting feedback
messages to students is to inform them of where
their academic work stands in line with the stan-
dards or criteria of an assignment and of why and
how improvements are necessary for subsequent
successful learning (Chang, 2009a, 2009c; Nicol
& MacFarlane-Dick, 2006).
Goals/standards/criteria of performance or
of an assignment affect how students are going
to complete a task and interpret feedback by an
instructor. Students' engagement in completing
a given assignment is for the purpose of deepen-
ing understanding based on the objectives set
in advance. Unfortunately, it is quite common
that students may have trouble understanding
objectives and goals fully before an assign-
ment is completed. One of the reasons for this
phenomenon is that making assessment goals
or criteria explicit can be a difficult undertaking
(Rust, Price, & O'Donovan, 2003). “Statements
of expected standards, curriculum objectives or
learning outcomes are generally insufficient to
convey the richness of meaning that is wrapped
up in them” (Yorke, 2003, p. 408) and “[t]hey
are often 'tacit' and unarticulated in the mind of
the teacher” (Nicol & MacFarlane, 2006, p. 206)
owing to their complex and multidimensional
nature. To bring about effective performances, an
instructor is obligated to aid students in establish-
ing a good understanding of goals, which comes,
in part, from the assessment process by offering
constructive feedback. Grading students' work,
in this sense, should not equate with simply as-
signing a grade or a numeral score.
Providing feedback should depart from a
discretely dominant one-way street of informa-
tion message delivery by an instructor or that of
information interpretation by students, but should
IMPORTANCE OF FORMATIVE
ASSESSMENT AND FEEDBACK
Formative assessment refers to opportunities
teachers build to assess how students are learn-
ing. The information gained from the assessment
is then utilized to make beneficial changes in
instruction or to adapt teaching and learning to
meet students' needs (Boston, 2002). According
to Black and Wiliam (1998), the analysis of stu-
dent accomplished assignments, such as in-class
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