A role for technology in enhancing students’ engagement with feedback

This paper explores the potential of technology-enabled feedback to improve student learning. 'Technology, Feedback, Action!:The impact of learning technology upon students' engagement with their feedback' aimed to evaluate how a range of technical interventions might encourage students to engage with feedback and formulate actions to improve future learning. The study used qualitative methods and worked in partnership with 23 undergraduate students to explore their experiences of receiving different forms of feedback with varying degrees of technical intervention including, but not limited to, electronic feedback with grades withheld, online grade publication, criteria-based feedback and more traditional feedback methods. Through a series of semi-structured interviews student participants were encouraged to articulate their experiences of feedback. The online publication of grades and feedback and the adaptive release of grades were found to significantly enhance students' engagement with their feedback. Data were analysed using a thematic approach and the main themes were used to inform the development of a series of good practice guides. The findings are discussed in the context of current literature. Keywords: Feedback; technology; engagement; reflection; innovation