On-task student-to-teacher feedback: “Was that interesting?” &”Does it Matter”

Abstract

On-task student to teacher feedback: “Was that interesting?” Background: Feedback and it’s related constructs are some of the most powerful predictors of student learning within higher education specifically (Richardson, Abraham, & Bond, 2012) and across education more broadly (Hattie, 2009). What is less often discussed, is that perhaps the most powerful form of feedback is from students to their instructors. This issue coupled with the longstanding problem of quality and timeliness of course evaluations open up a gap that current educational theory and burgeoning educational technology is ready to fill.Aims: This poster will report on the development of a model and on-line tool for the assessment of student interest in lecture hall tasks/activities. Methods: Scales were adapted from previous on-task interest research (Authors, 2016; 2017). A preliminary smartphone-/tablet-based tool was piloted across two courses (three classes) with first-year students at a research-intensive university in pacific-Asia. The finalised tool was employed to collect data for modelling across a single class—task interest twice and class interest once at the end—utilising PLS small-sample latent modelling. Preliminary Results: Results from the on-going study presents an increasingly efficient and valid tool for short, on-task self-report of student interest. The instrument’s backend (in its present form) is a helpful organisational platform for both designing and implementing measurement, and also visualising results in real-time. Initial class-based modelling results are consistent with previous research employing the task-course-domain model of interest (Authors, 2016), highlighting the importance of every task in supporting students’ growing individual interest in the topic understudy.Preliminary Conclusions: At the current stage, the study confirms the usefulness of the practical model of interest development utilised and the tablet based instrument for enabling student to teacher feedback in large-scale teaching and learning contexts. Fine-grained results from the year-long study with students from five first-year courses will be presented in the proposed poster. Hattie, J. C. (2009). Visible learning: A synthesis of over 800 meta-analyses relating to achievemen.t London & New York: Routledge, Taylor & Francis.Richardson, M., Abraham, C., & Bond, R. (2012). Psychological correlates of university students' academic performance: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Psychological Bulletin, 138, 353-387. doi:10.1037/a0026838