The Influence of Student Characteristics on Responses to Academic Feedback

This project aims to serve the national interest by improving the way faculty give undergraduates feedback about their academic performance. Feedback is intended to promote student learning and achievement. However, relatively little research has explicitly studied how STEM students interpret feedback and whether feedback has its intended effects.

This project will examine how students’ reactions to feedback are shaped by their self-perceptions, such as their confidence in mastering STEM material and their feelings of being accepted in the field. The project will test whether several types of feedback produce equally beneficial outcomes for students with different self-perceptions. The goal of the project is to build a knowledge base about the factors that affect students’ responses to academic feedback.

It is anticipated that this knowledge may be incorporated into evidence-based STEM teaching practices at many types of institutions. In addition, knowledge gained about how students’ self-perceptions shape their reactions should be relevant to other aspects of STEM teaching and course design, such as describing learning goals or the instructor’s teaching philosophy.

Individuals vary in their academic self-perceptions, with some feeling higher efficacy and belonging in the field than others. Systematic differences also exist between students, with women on average reporting lower efficacy and belonging in STEM than men. The impact of these individual and gender differences on students’ reactions to academic feedback will be examined in laboratory studies in which student volunteers agree to complete representative STEM assignments that are evaluated by a person who is communicating with the student online.

The study will examine key variables shown to affect responses to feedback in other contexts, such as the gender of the evaluator, students’ self-efficacy, and whether students think the evaluator knows their gender. As a second major goal, the project will also evaluate specific theory-informed ways to deliver feedback with the goal of maximizing the benefits of feedback for all students.

The NSF IUSE: EHR Program supports research and development projects to improve the effectiveness of STEM education for all students. This project is in the Engaged Student Learning track, through which the program supports the creation, exploration, and implementation of promising practices and tools.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.