Feedback Mechanisms of DepEd English Teachers in Modular Distance Learning: A Case Study

Abstract

With the shift in the educational setting from traditional classrooms to online learning for most countries and modular distance learning in the Philippines, giving feedback to the students proves to be a challenge. Research conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic, whether online or through modular learning, only included feedback as a part of the problems encountered, not as the main aspect of the research. Thus, this study explored the nature of the feedback practices delivered by English DepEd teachers to their students through modular learning. Moreover, this is primarily concerned with the teachers' experiences and methods of developing feedback for their students in this modular distance learning scheme. The study employed a qualitative research design, utilizing a single explanatory case study. The study involved eight public English high school teachers and was conducted in two public secondary high schools in Leyte. The data was collected through an interview protocol, analysed using thematic analysis, and validated through triangulation. The findings of this study revealed that explicit error correction through annotation and positive feedback through commendation are the only feedback mechanisms/corrections used by the English DepEd teachers on their modular instruction. While these practices address some of the problems in English learning through modular distance learning, it is observed that they are severely limited by internal and external factors from both teachers and students. 
 
 Keywords: Feedback Practices; modular learning; teachers’ experiences and method; error correction; and positive feedback.