Ljubov van Beek: There is more to educational feedback… feedback… feedback...
Written by Merel Engelsman
The educator provides feedback, the students put it to good use, and overall understanding soars. Unfortunately, it is not that simple, especially in large classes. Ljubov van Beek, a 4TU.CEE PhD candidate at TU Delft, delved into the complexities of the feedback process in the context of a large class in Computer Science Education.
Being naturally curious and fond of learning herself, Ljubov van Beek loves to get to the bottom of how to get students to learn. And after a university degree as an educational specialist, a PhD was the logical next step for her. The assessment of educational feedback became her topic. “In theory, it is an excellent way to help students increase their understanding,” she says. “But in practice, and scientific literature, you find that many (computer science) students are unsatisfied with the feedback they receive.”
In theory, it is an excellent way to help students increase their understanding...
Do you want to attend Ljubov's PhD Defense?
PhD Title: Feedback perceptions in computer science education: large classes
Where: Aula, TU Delft (Mekelweg 5, 2628 CC, Delft, Zuid-Holland)
When: Wednesday 4 December 2024, 15:00h
Abstract: Feedback perceptions are essential to understand how we perceive feedback and what we do with instructional feedback when we receive it. This thesis explores feedback perceptions among students and instructors of large classes within the Computer Science program. For students, we explore how students perceive instructional feedback and what they do with it - what learning strategies are used. For instructors, we explore how feedback is perceived and how those perceptions influence feedback practices that are used within the computer science teaching team. Our findings draw an interesting picture: while students perceive instructional feedback as important, they do not always use it to improve the quality of their work/learning; when instructional feedback is applied, students perform low-utility learning strategies which makes learning ineffective; a strong positive correlation between certain learning strategies and feedback use indicates that students only use instructional feedback when they recognize it, are in the ‘right mindset’ (or motivated) to use it, and know effective learning strategies to use instructional feedback; from instructors’ side, findings show a clear preference to certain feedback practices that are used within the teaching team and that those practices are
reflected in how instructors perceive feedback. Such results act as a precursor to establishing a certain feedback culture that is predominant, meaning that certain feedback practices are not used since they are not perceived as effective.