Association of teacher feedback with scholastic attainment at secondary level in Pakistan

Abstract

In this article we report on the association between teacher feedback and scholastic attainment at Secondary School Certificate (SSC) level in Pakistan. The study was conducted with data collected from Pakistani secondary school teachers and students through a survey study using multistage sampling. The objectives of the study were (1) to explore the possible differences in the effect of feedback by male and female teachers on the academic achievement of students in large, medium, and small secondary schools; (2) to compute the relationship of teacher feedback on the scholastic accomplishment at secondary level. The research instrument (questionnaire) with 14 closed-ended statements was developed, validated through experts in the field of education, and internal consistency of the tool was measured using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) – the calculated Cronbach Alpha was 0.814. Two hypotheses for the study were formulated and tested by using non-parametric statistical tests in order to achieve the objectives of the study. The results show that teachers’ feedback during the teaching-learning process has a positive association with academic achievement of students. Furthermore, formative feedback, diagnostic feedback, gestural feedback, immediate feedback and feedback on classroom discussion are used to overcome the behavioural and learning issues of low and high achievers. The findings of the study suggest that variety in teacher feedback techniques during the teaching-learning process should be promoted to enhance the quality of students’ academic achievement.