EVALUATION OF THREE AUDIO FEEDBACK
METHODSDR I-CHANT CHIANG
2 FEBRUARY 2011
PROBLEMS WITH WRITTEN FEEDBACK
LEAST SATISFIED AREA IN NATIONAL STUDENT SURVEY (BBC, 2007; UNISTATS, 2009)
LACK OF DEPTH, SIMPLY STATE THE PROBLEM
ILLEGIBLE HANDWRITING
OVEREMPHASIS ON AREAS OF WEAKNESS
INABILITY TO PRIORITIZE
BENEFITS OF AUDIO FEEDBACK
STUDENT
EASIER TO UNDERSTAND
MORE DEPTH
RICHER FORM OF FEEDBACK
NUANCED FEEDBACK
TONE OF VOICE
MORE GENUINE, ACCESSIBLE, PERSONAL
BETTER WORK, BETTER MARKS(KING, MCGUGAN, BUNYAN, 2008;
ICE, CURTIS, PHILLIPS, WELLS, 2007; MERRY AND ORSMOND, 2008)
BENEFITS OF AUDIO FEEDBACK
TUTOR
MORE DEPTH
FLEXIBILITY
TIME SAVINGS LONG-TERM
GIVING FEEDBACK
HIGHER QUALITY WORK
(KING, MCGUGAN, BUNYAN, 2008; ICE, CURTIS, PHILLIPS, WELLS, 2007;
MERRY AND ORSMOND, 2008)
DIFFERENT TYPES OF STUDENTSDIFFERENT TYPES OF TUTORS
RESEARCH QUESTIONS
HOW DO DIFFERENT STUDENTS RESPOND TO AUDIO FEEDBACK?
HOW DO DIFFERENT METHODS OF AUDIO FEEDBACK COMPARE?
RESEARCH QUESTIONS
HOW DO DIFFERENT STUDENTS RESPOND TO AUDIO FEEDBACK?
LOW-PERFORMING STUDENTS DO NOT TAKE FEEDBACK ON BOARD LIKE HIGH-PERFORMING STUDENTS(VAN DER ZEE, 2009)
LISTENING AND READING SKILLS DEVELOP DIFFERENTLY WHEN LEARNING IN A NON-NATIVE LANGUAGE (HERRON, MORRIS, SECULES, & CURTIS, 1995)
RESEARCH QUESTIONS
HOW DO DIFFERENT METHODS OF AUDIO FEEDBACK COMPARE?
IMPLEMENTATION, EFFECTIVENESS, AND PREFERENCE
TUTORS AND STUDENTS
ACROSS ASSESSMENT TYPES
THREE METHODS
AUDIO ONLY
TUTOR: RECORDS ON DIGITAL RECORDER
STUDENT: RECEIVES MP3 FILE
AUDIO-VISUAL ASYNCHRONOUS
TUTOR: RECORDS VIA HEADSET AND ADOBE ACROBAT 9.0
STUDENT: RECEIVES PDF FILE
AUDIO-VISUAL SYNCHRONOUS
TUTOR: RECORDS VIA HEADSET AND SCREENCAST
STUDENT: RECEIVES LINK TO WEBSITE
HTTP://SCREENCAST.COM/T/PBQZFECJ744
STUDY METHODOLOGY
5 ACADEMIC STAFF MEMBERS
33 PSYCHOLOGY HONOURS STUDENTS
“HIGH-PERFORMING” AND “LOW-PERFORMING”
11 NON-NATIVE ENGLISH SPEAKERS
14 ASSESSMENTS
EVALUATION
QUESTIONNAIRES
STUDENT PERFORMANCE
INTERVIEWS
FOCUS GROUPS
RESULTS
TIME PER METHOD
0%
25%
50%
75%
100%
Audio Only A-V Asynchronous A-V Synchronous0
3
6
9
12
Percent Listened Average Minutes Recorded
% LISTENED TO FEEDBACK
0%
25%
50%
75%
100%
Audio Only A-V Asynchronous A-V Synchronous
35%48%
60%
96%94%100%
High Performing Students Low Performing Students
AUDIO ONLY
STUDENT PERSPECTIVE
VERY USEFUL, LEAST CHALLENGING, LISTENED IN A VARIETY OF SETTINGS
PREFERENCE: 2ND AMONG LO STUDENTS, 3RD AMONG HI STUDENTS
“IT IS ALL IN ONE GO RATHER THAN HAVING TO CLICK ON SOUND BITES INDIVIDUALLY”
AUDIO ONLY
TUTOR PERSPECTIVE
VERY EASY TO USE, PORTABLE
GAVE BROADER, LESS SPECIFIC FEEDBACK
LEAST PREFERRED METHOD
“IT WAS VERY STRAIGHTFORWARD”
BEST FOR POSTERS, NON-ELECTRONIC WORK
AUDIO-VISUAL ASYNCHRONOUS
STUDENT PERSPECTIVE
VERY USEFUL, SPECIFIC AND DETAILED, SELF-PACED, NO WAY TO STOP MID-COMMENT, MANY CLICKS, SOMETIMES INCONSISTENT
PREFERENCE: 1ST AMONG LO STUDENTS, 2ND AMONG HI STUDENTS
“IT PINPOINTS EXACTLY WHERE THEY’RE SPEAKING ABOUT AND IT ALSO OFFERS THE MARKER AN OPPORTUNITY TO BE MORE ELABORATE, EXPRESS THEMSELVES BETTER”
AUDIO-VISUAL ASYNCHRONOUS
TUTOR PERSPECTIVE
CLEAR, SIMPLE, STRAIGHTFORWARD, EXPANSIVE
TEDIOUS, SPENDING MORE TIME
HALF THE TUTORS PREFER THIS METHOD MOST
“I LIKED IT, BUT I TOOK WAY TOO LONG”
BEST FOR REPORTS, PROPOSALS
AUDIO-VISUAL SYNCHRONOUS
STUDENT PERSPECTIVE
FELT LIKE SITTING WITH THE TUTOR, GOOD FOR FORMULATING ARGUMENTS, MUST HAVE GOOD INTERNET CONNECTION, COULD NOT SAVE THE FILE
PREFERENCE: 3RD AMONG LO STUDENTS, 1ST AMONG HI STUDENTS
“I CAN SEE THE LECTURERS’ THOUGHT PROCESS”
AUDIO-VISUAL SYNCHRONOUS
TUTOR PERSPECTIVE
CANNOT WAFFLE, FOCUS ON IMPORTANT POINTS
PINPOINT SPECIFICS, RE-RECORD SOMETIMES
HALF THE TUTORS PREFER THIS METHOD MOST
“IT IS MORE LIKE A (ONE-SIDED) CONVERSATION”
BEST FOR ESSAYS, FORMAL PRESENTATIONS
STUDENT TYPES
NO DIFFERENCES BETWEEN NATIVE AND NON-NATIVE ENGLISH SPEAKERS
A-V Synchronous
A-V Asynchronous
Audio Only
Overall High Performing Low Performing
MUCH LESS
SOMEWHAT LESS
SLIGHTLY LESS
ABOUT THE
SAME
SLIGHTLY MORE
SOMEWHAT MORE
MUCH MORE
OVERALL THEMES
TUTORS ENJOYED GIVING FEEDBACK THROUGH AUDIO MEANS BUT SOME ARE PUT OFF BY TECHNOLOGY
END OF YEAR EVALUATIONS WERE HIGH FOR FEEDBACK
LANGUAGE COMPETENCE MAY BE A FACTOR IN 1ST YEAR
DIFFERENCES IN HIGH AND LOW PERFORMING STUDENTS
OVERALL THEMES
MARKS INCREASED MOST WITH A-V ASYNCHRONOUS
MATCH METHOD TO ASSESSMENT TYPE
AUDIO ONLY: POSTER, NON-ELECTRONIC WORK
A-V ASYNCHRONOUS: REPORTS, PROPOSALS
A-V SYNCHRONOUS: ESSAYS, FORMAL PRESENTATIONS
FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THIS PROJECT:
HTTP://SITES.GOOGLE.COM/SITE/AUDIOFEEDBACKUK/