Targeted and well-timed feedback is essential for student development and advancement (Ambrose et al., 2010) but with increasing class sizes and limited instructor time, personalized feedback is difficult to provide. Learning analytics tools, such as OnTask and Canvas Message Students Who, aim to address the logistical challenges of providing feedback at scale, and have been shown to be effective in increasing student motivation and achievement (Pardo et al., 2017; Vigentini et al., 2017). However, there is limited understanding of students’ perceptions of effective feedback and how to time and target feedback to be effective (Polous, 2008).
There are four aims of this project:
- Document the impact of personalized feedback on student motivation, satisfaction, engagement and performance;
- Assess student perceptions of feedback (what is useful, supportive and effective);
- Connect with faculty/staff to develop guidelines/best practices for providing personalized feedback at scale;
- Build capacity in individual departments (with faculty and teaching assistants) to provide discipline specific personalized feedback based on developed resources.
The project will build capacity in faculty to be able to provide personalized feedback to students (at scale) based on developed guidelines/best practices that are evidence-based and informed by both faculty and student perspectives. This will ultimately lead to increased student motivation, satisfaction, engagement and performance in their university courses and will better prepare them for advanced education and the workforce.