Lecturer Feedback Research Articles

Discovering User Sentiment Patterns in Libraries with a Hybrid Machine Learning and Lexicon-Based Approach

The need to enhance library services is the focus of this study, which relies on user feedback for data-driven decision-making. Text data from library user surveys conducted at Politeknik Caltex Riau (PCR) is analyzed to categorize sentiment and identify areas for improvement. The biannual student and lecturer feedback collected from 2018 to 2023 through the institution's official survey system (survey.pcr.ac.id) is utilized, providing a comprehensive and robust picture of user needs across five years. Sentiment analysis is employed using the VADER method to classify user comments into positive or negative categories. Text preprocessing techniques, such as stemming, tokenizing, and filtering, are performed to ensure robust classification. Machine learning algorithms – Naïve Bayes, Support Vector Machine (SVM), and Random Forest – are then utilized to evaluate sentiment classification accuracy. The study offers significant findings. Both SVM and Random Forest achieve an outstanding accuracy of 99%, indicating highly reliable sentiment categorization. Notably, these algorithms also achieve 100% precision, recall, and F1-score, demonstrating their effectiveness in accurately identifying positive and negative user sentiment. While Naïve Bayes shows slightly lower accuracy at 98%, it maintains a high recall rate (100%), ensuring all negative feedback is captured. This research presents a novel approach combining user sentiment analysis with a comprehensive five-year dataset. This enables a deeper understanding of evolving user needs and priorities. The high accuracy and effectiveness of the employed algorithms highlight the potential of this methodology for libraries. Libraries can leverage user feedback for evidence-based service improvement and increased user satisfaction.

Operationalising critical thinking in postgraduate disciplinary writing: insights from corpus and cluster analyses of lecturer feedback

Research has revealed that critical thinking (CT) can predict undergraduate academic performance well. It is essential for nurturing students’ unique voice and creativity, especially in the era of Large Language Models (LLMs). LLMs can generate linguistically complex texts, potentially overshadowing students’ authorial voices—particularly those still developing language skills and domain-specific knowledge. Despite this, research on CT within subject education contexts remains scarce, leaving disciplinary lecturers’ expectations of CT in disciplinary writing largely unexplored. Our study analysed a 160,527-word corpus of lecturer feedback on 230 assignments from three education-related postgraduate programs to reveal their shared expectations of CT in disciplinary writing. We identified nine CT constructs, each illustrated with relevant feedback examples. Their intricate interrelationships were revealed through hierarchical cluster analyses. Drawing inspiration from Bloom’s Taxonomy, we established a CT taxonomy to guide effective and consistent assessment of CT. Further studies and practical applications of the CT taxonomy within local educational contexts are needed to develop students’ CT skills and empower them to retain their voice and creativity in an AI-empowered era.

Information behaviour of students inspired by lecturers' feedback

ABSTRACT Feedback is identified in the works of researchers as an essential element for improving the learning process of students. Research shows that lecturer's feedback creates value when it provides not only appraisal information but also links to further learning. This type of feedback affects the learner’s information behaviour, i.e., encourages searching for additional information and using it in the learning process. The paper aims to analyze the peculiarities of students’ information behaviour during feedback. The research object is investigated from an information science perspective, using theories of information behaviour. An exploratory quantitative survey of 111 Communication BA students from Vilnius University, Lithuania, was conducted. The results of the study revealed the characteristics of feedback inspired by information behaviour: the feedback provided by the lecture is the primary source of information; feedback promotes individual information search; timely feedback encourages proactive information behaviour.

Enhancing Educational Courses through A Collaborative Learning Management System: A Study on Effectiveness

This study evaluates the effectiveness of a collaborative learning model integrated with a learning management system in diverse educational contexts. The issue of suboptimal student learning outcomes is often attributed to deficiencies in the development of instructional models and media. The critical role of instructional media in achieving successful learning outcomes necessitates research to bridge the gaps between actual knowledge, theoretical expectations, and practical applications. This study aims to enhance educational models and materials by employing the ADDIE (Analysis, Design, Development, Implementation, and Evaluation) framework for Research and Development. It involved 35 education students and adopted methods such as expert validation, lecturer feedback, and pre-and post-test evaluations for data collection. The analysis covered design, development, testing, and evaluation stages, confirming the developed model's efficacy and functionality. Evaluations by experts in technology and learning models, alongside peer assessments, supported the model's high effectiveness. Preliminary experiments achieved an average score of 88.

How can collaborative reading techniques impact confidence and belonging?

Recent barriers to engagement in higher education (HE) – including economic, geographic and post-COVID anxiety (Dickinson, 2022; Morgan, 2022; Bennett et al., 2022) – may result in students being less inclined to develop relationships with their peers, share ideas, and invest time in their learning. This challenges our efforts to develop students’ academic skills as they are transitioning into and through HE. 
 Academic reading is often neglected in favour of academic writing, largely due to the assumption that competence in reading is an existing skill (Kimberley and Thursby, 2020). However, students report that they lack confidence, resulting in avoidance of reading complex texts (St. Clair-Thompson, Graham and Marsham, 2018). In addition, subject lecturers may not refer to the importance of reading in their teaching. This ‘invisibility’ (Baker et.al, 2019) can lead to a devaluation of the skill, which has serious consequences: reading remains a critical foundation for much thinking and writing in HE (Maguire, Reynolds and Delahunt, 2020). 
 Collaborative reading techniques can address these challenges by promoting reading as social practice; improving confidence to tackle texts; and boosting belonging within a cohort and discipline (McCollum et al., 2017). At UWE Bristol, we have a two-year project within Learning Services to promote and improve reading skills, including reading within the disciplines. During 2022, we piloted academic reading circles, textmapping and jigsaw reading. Since then, we have embedded some of these activities across all three colleges at module level. 
 Initial student and lecturer feedback has been positive, with participants reporting increased levels of confidence. However, is this a sufficient indication of potential long-term impact? How do learning developers influence an improvement of competence and confidence in reading, and move towards a more mature model of embeddedness (Wingate, 2016)? Our presentation explored possible answers to this question by presenting case studies and sharing the lessons learnt.

How guided self-reflection improves critical thinking of nursing students in the pre-clinical stage?

Self-reflection has proven to improve clinical performance and support nursing students in formulating clinical reasoning. However, self-reflection is more commonly used during clinical placement. This study examines the effectiveness of guided self-reflection assignments in improving nursing students' critical thinking skills during practical learning at the academic stage. The research method used in this study is the single-subject experimental design by applying the Holistic Critical Thinking Scoring Rubric (HCTSR) to assess the respondent's self-reflection after performing two procedures taught in the laboratory. Twelve nursing students participated in this study in August 2022. Visual analysis is used to analyze the student's critical thinking score trend. The study indicates that 7 of 12 nursing students perform a positive trend during the procedure by improving their HCTSR score each intervention day. In general, the visual analysis displays an increasing trend from a maximum score of 3 (solid critical thinking) in the first self-reflection to a maximum score of 4 (very-strong critical thinking) in the last self-reflection. Guided self-reflection assessment and feedback effectively improve the thinking skills of nursing students undergoing practical learning at the academic stage. Concise and contextual guiding questions in writing self-reflection, specific self-reflection assessment rubrics, and lecturer feedback should be essential aspects of every nursing learning process, both at the pre-clinical and clinical stages. Keywords: Self-reflection; nursing student; students' performance; critical thinking; nursing care

An evaluation of the use of Turnitin as a tool for electronic submission, marking, and feedback in higher education in South Africa: Students’ perspective

Turnitin has been operating for over 20 years checking plagiarism in student assessments and giving feedback to improve student writing skills and encourage originality, and over the years the use of Turnitin has been published mainly by lecturers and teachers. Thus, the main objective was to understand and determine the underlining viewpoint of students towards Turnitin as a submission, marking, and feedback tool in higher education. The research involved identifying the benefits and drawbacks of Turnitin as an electronic submission, marking, and feedback tool for students, determining the effectiveness of Turnitin tools for lecturer feedback and identifying the possible implications of Examsoft and Gradescope as marking and feedback tools. Due to the nature of this study, a quantitative approach was adopted with the use of a questionnaire. Data were collected from 51 students at Eduvos from different academic levels and analysed through descriptive statistics using graphs. The results showed that students in South Africa experience benefits of Turnitin such as accessibility and convenience as electronic tools, convenience view for grades, and clear originality reports. The drawbacks were: loss of work after submission, issues with file upload size, negative marking due to no feedback, restricted file types for submission, identification of false positives, and no section for late submissions. It was also evident that the effectiveness of lecturer feedback tools differs per academic level. These findings can be used to enhance students’ academic experience as there were more drawbacks than benefits identified in the study.

Quality Assurance of the ‘MRCPsych Course’ in Wales

AimsThe ‘MRCPsych Course’ (Membership of the Royal College of Psychiatrists) is provided to all core trainees in psychiatry in Wales by the School of Psychiatry, Health Education and Improvement Wales (HEIW), now delivered online since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. The aims of the HEIW MRCPsych course are: to prepare core trainees for the MRCPsych exams and to set a ‘robust platform’ for speciality training at the higher level in psychiatry. We undertook a quality assurance of the 2020/21 academic year to see how content and delivery of the course were serving these aims and make recommendations for improvement.MethodsOver the course of one academic year we triangulated trainee feedback, lecturer feedback and peer review. Trainee and trainer feedback forms were sent out following every session. We developed standards and criteria for peer review and reviewed 10% of sessions. We conducted focus groups with trainees using mentimeter to structure a real time, anonymous interaction with parallel verbal and written discussions using a virtual meeting.ResultsTrainee feedback forms were received for 31 lectures from an average of 11 trainees per session. 14 Lecturer feedback forms were received, and 48 trainees attended the two focus groups. 15 hours of teaching underwent peer review.ConclusionLecture content was universally accurate and up to date and all teachers were fluent and engaging, with almost all incorporating research data, guidelines and inspiration for further learning.Several lecturer feedback forms requested a curriculum be provided. Some trainees requested a more exam focused approach with more MCQs.Trainees found online sessions more accessible and convenient. The major downside being that they no longer get to know each other and feel very anonymous, which makes peer support and interaction more difficult.Interactive engagement was the lowest scored domain overall. Interaction seemed to work best when done as a continuous process from the start and when a variety of techniques were engaged. Trainee's suggestions for increasing interactivity included quizzes, polls, breakout rooms, use of interactive tools, and a general encouragement of cameras and microphones on and active discussion throughout the session.Speakers had no problems using the technology to deliver an online session, this triangulated with their high confidence and high satisfaction reported by lectures with HEIW practical support. Trainees reported a high satisfaction with the quality of teaching on the course.Our conclusions have informed changes which are currently being implemented and tested.

Self-regulated in a Blended Learning: Case Study On Educational Doctoral candidates

This study investigates the use of self-regulated in blended learning by students in doctoral education courses to complete advanced statistics lectures. Self-regulated in blended learning is described in four phases according to Zimmerman, namely planning, monitoring, evaluation, and reinforcing. The participants consisted of five students from 5 different disciplines, and were willing to share their learning experiences. Research data obtained by interview method and analyzed qualitatively. Validation uses two strategies, namely member checking and peer debriefing. Member checking is done after the data is formulated into themes, then the researcher will bring it back to the participants to find out their accuracy. Peer debriefing was conducted by colleagues to review and ask critical questions about this research. Colleagues have at least a doctoral degree. The results show that planning for the completion of student assignments begins with (1) setting goals and planning strategies with (a) planning time for completing assignments; (b) Cooperation with peers online and off-line; and (c) planning for technical issues; (2) Regularly calculate their scores every week after being given feedback on the results of the lecturer's assessment, and save the feedback results from completed assignments; (3) using assignment assessment rubrics, using lecturer feedback, and grades, to measure progress in lectures; (4) the strategies they have designed and implemented have succeeded in making success in doing the task.

Learner’s Perception of Task Difficulties in Technology-Mediated Task-Based Language Teaching

The using technology in teaching-learning activity is exceptionally pivotal to assess English language learner's achievement. However, in implementing technology during TBLT, learners faced a few difficulties. And, investigating learner's perception of task difficulties in technology-mediated TBLT was the goal of the study. Regarding of gathering data study conducted mixed-method design. An open-ended questionnaire was distributed to participants and continued by open-ended interview to digging deepen learner's difficulties. The result study strongly confirms that in incorporating technology into TBLT learners experienced some challenges in (1) understanding the meaning of the task, (2) practical instruction in doing chores, (3) Applying new technology to explore profound functions in more detail, (4) Lack of direct lecturer feedback on student task, and (5) performance's assessment, (6) Addressing learner's needs (requires linguistics & non-linguistics element), (7) Goal orientation, (8) digital literacy, build knowledge, intellectual, and behavior. The study also implied that incorporating technology into task-based language teaching contributed to a better understanding of the student doing tasks. Both blend and online learning should intertwine with the syllabus and curriculum need analysis. Government as curriculum maker should provide graded and sustainable internship for teacher educators in integrating technology into TBLT. However, no one research far from the limitation includes the study, and, the small number of participants and its interpretation claimed as a limitation of the study.

Learner’s perception of task difficulties in technology-mediated task-based language teaching

The perception of learners can be used for evaluating task-based language teaching development. However, during the technology-mediated task-based language teaching (TBLT), learners faced a few difficulties. Thus, this study aimed to investigate learners’ perceptions of task difficulties in technology-mediated (TBLT). To collect data, the study used a quantitative design with an open-ended questionnaire, and, involved two hundred learners as participants who came from different departments at the university. The results strongly confirmed that incorporating technology into TBLT leads learners to face some difficulties in (1) understanding the meaning of the task, (2) practical instruction in doing tasks, (3) applying new technology to explore profound tasks further, (4) lack of direct lecturer feedback on student tasks, (5) performance assessment, (6) addressing learners’ needs, (7) goal orientation, (8) digital literacy, building knowledge, intellectual, and behavior, and (9) school and curriculum rules. Furthermore, the study preferred some strategies to solve learners' difficulties in TBLT, such as managing teaching materials to become easier and more interesting, referring technology integration to learners’ ability, implementing bring your own device (BYOD), improving classroom assessment, teachers broadening technology-mediated, task-based learning internships, and facilitating learners with compatible technology tools and stable internet connection.

Using Padlets as E-Portfolios to Enhance Undergraduate Students’ Writing Skills and Motivation

Despite the increasing support for the use of e-portfolios, research on its utility is just beginning to emerge. In terms of the current study, 200 students were asked to create digital portfolios with Padlet, share their e-portfolios via their Virtual Learning Platform (VLE), and ask for peer and lecturer feedback every time they completed a written task. Using a diagnostic test and their final assignment, students had to write a reflective report at the beginning and the end of an academic term. They also interacted every week using a forum created by their lecturer to enhance collaboration and peer support. At the end of each interactive feedback session, they had to reflect on their work and the feedback they received and post their self-reflections on the forum. Findings indicated that students managed to improve their writing performance significantly and enhance their motivation towards writing and learning in general due to this innovative alternative assessment method. This was evident from their final reflective reports, their focus group discussions, and the anonymous feedback they provided through Mentimeter. Students reported that they enjoyed this interactive experience which was both engaging and rewarding. However, students expressed their wish for more support when using IT tools and e-portfolios and asked to be guided to develop their writing and reflective skills and engage even more with their e-portfolios.

Online mathematics supports in lieu of university tutorials during COVID-19: student and lecturer perspectives

When the first national lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic occurred, all higher educational institutions in Ireland moved to remote learning and have effectively remained in this mode ever since. The situation presented enormous challenges for many mathematics lecturers who had not delivered lectures or tutorials online before. This study looks closely at what a traditional (in-person) mathematics tutorial encompasses and examines learners’ needs with respect to support within a remotely delivered module. The work focuses on how well various formats of remote support address the affordances of the traditional in-person tutorial. The range of support formats explored here includes live tutorials, written homework with feedback, group work via breakout rooms in Zoom, a discussion forum and instant formative feedback through Canvas quizzes and the e-assessment tool Numbas. The effectiveness of the different formats of remote support is assessed through examining student engagement and student and lecturer feedback. Six student cohorts, of levels ranging from first year to MSc level, across three different departments, taking either a mathematics or statistics module, participated in the study and were surveyed on their experience and future preferences. The work highlights some of the key issues surrounding remote support within mathematics modules and discusses the findings in the context of the implications for a lecturer and the factors to consider when deciding on a strategy for remote learning. The paper also analyses student interaction and notes the aspects of remote mathematics support that will have value beyond the pandemic.

The EFL Lecturers’ Feedback on Pre-Service Teachers’ Writing Performance In Online Instruction

Based on the facts about problems in teaching and learning of writing, it shows that the teaching learning of English in classrooms has not achieved the goals yet. Many students face many problems in writing. In addition, because of the situation happen in our world caused by Pandemic, it poses a special challenge for educators because in this situation learning takes place online. In this case, feedback is considered the most important factor in determining the success of the message to be conveyed to the recipient of the message. Concerning to the learning, Irons (2008) suggests that feedback is any information, process or activity carried out to accelerate student learning based on comments related to the results of assessing student development. In conducting a research entitled “The EFL Lecturers Feedback on Pre-Service Teacher Writing Performance in Online Instruction” in which this aims at identifying the types of feedback provided by lecturers on pre service teachers’ writing performance in online instruction and also to describe the implementation of the feedback provided by lecturers on pre-service teacher writing performance in online instruction. By means of applying interviews to 3 writing lecturers of faculty of culture, management, and business at UNDIKMA, the lecturer lecturers often used direct corrective feedback and electronic feedback in giving feedback on pre-service teacher writing performance in online instruction. The lecturers give some signs or clue to indicate the students writing mistakes, repeated explanations, add closeness to communication and give alternative answer for each students mistakes. It was also found that the feedback provide by the lecturers contain affective points. it also found that the implementation of lecturer feedback was more focused on general level feedback concerning the results of students' writing. the implementation of feedback emphasizes communication so that the feedback process can run smoothly, provides detailed explanations and gives students the opportunity to correct their mistakes in writing.

The effect of Skinny Cow Condition on first-year students’ expectations of assessment and feedback

De Beer and Gravett (2016: 46) sound the alarm that most first-year students who report for teacher training at tertiary institutions in South Africa emerge from an examination-driven system and are unable to engage with self-directed learning (SDL). This is disconcerting since students of the 21st century who enrol for university studies across the world are expected to be self-directed, taking responsibility for their own academic progress while focusing on active rather than passive learning (Nasri, 2017: 1). The English for Education course at the North-West University in South Africa requires students to be critically engaged as they direct their own learning. However, the high dropout rate (North-West University, 2018) of the first-year English for Education students (around 25% per annum over the last three years) and the average drop in their English marks from high school to university suggest that students find it difficult to adapt to the demands of tertiary studies. This paper reports on a study that focused on the teaching, learning and assessment gaps between secondary and tertiary education and which aimed at developing a framework to promote SDL in first-year English for Education studies. The findings illustrated that students felt frustrated by lecturer feedback on assignments that demanded active engagement and critical thinking. It became clear that students were unable to interpret feedback and that they felt unsupported if the lecturer did not show and tell them exactly what to write or would not supply them with detailed answers to memorise and reproduce.

Effects of WhatsApp Based Online Learning to Students' Satisfaction during COVID-19 Mitigation in Rural Area of Indonesia

Covid-19 pandemic has a significant impact on learning practices in various countries. The Government of Indonesia conducts Covid-19 Mitigation in various sectors, including education. MOEC (Ministry of Education and Culture) issued regulations to organize knowledge using online learning at all levels of schools in all regions. Elementary schools in rural areas face obstacles in implementing online learning according to government regulations during the pandemic. Teachers use a variety of applications when carrying out online learning. Teachers use social media applications the most in education during this rapid change situation. One of the social media used during this mitigation is WhatsApp. This study aims to describe the response of learner’s satisfaction in Nusa Tenggara Timur, Indonesia, during online learning with this media. This research is a quantitative descriptive study using the COLLES questionnaire. This questionnaire was created using Google Form and distributed through WhatsApp Group to students. The sampling technique used was the purposive sampling of 123 students who joined online lectures using this media. The results of this study show that students are generally satisfied with online learning. Some aspects that need to be improved are at the level of appreciation, lecturer feedback during lectures. These results provide optimism for online learning as a new learning process in the modern era after Covid-19 mitigation ends.

Unravelling the Lecturer's feedback quality and the Students' engagement in Online Learning

AbstractThis study aimed to reveal the lecturer’s feedback quality intertwined with students’ engagement in online learning through a WhatsApp group. Also, it unraveled the follow-up actions conducted by the students regarding the feedback. 24 graduate students studying in one of the universities in Bandung city involved. A mixed-method, an explanatory sequential design, was used. Utilizing questionnaires, the study reveals that with a mean of 82.38 and standard deviation of 6.51, the lecturer’s feedback was deemed good with some qualities emanated through the in-depth interviews comprising ‘timely’, detail and relevant to the materials learned, facilitative, supportive, and objective. Meanwhile, with the mean of 73.43 and standard deviation of 10.92, the students’ engagement is considered good, yet challenging issues were found concerning the learner autonomy and the students’ motivation. Moreover, it was found that with the 95% level of confidence the p-value obtained was higher than the 95% level of significance, i.e. p>.05=.98>.05, hence the regression model between the two variables was considered linear. However, at the level of 95% level of significance, it was found that there was no significant relationship between the two variables, i.e. .097 >.050. Moreover, consulting with friends and the lecturer and reading relevant materials constituted the alternatives the students did to handle issues concerning the feedback.Keywords: assessment for learning, online learning, students’ engagement, lecturer’s feedback

Secondary pre-service teachers’ reflections on their micro-teaching: Feedback and self-evaluation

Abstract
 Reflective practices in pre-service teacher education enables teachers to evaluate their pedagogical skills. This study aimed to integrate different assessment techniques such as peer assessment, lecturer assessment and self-assessment in a micro-teaching setting. Using 20 pre-service teachers post-microteaching (MT) reflection, we explored how these teachers viewed peer feedback and lecturer feedback. This study also analyses how pre-service teachers self-evaluate their MT. The findings indicate that per-service teachers find both peer and lecturer feedback useful in terms of in terms of identifying their strengths and weaknesses as well as proving incentives for improvement. Furthermore, the findings show that when engaged in self-evaluation, the pre-service teachers tend to focus more on self-knowledge. The findings reaffirm the importance of peer and self-evaluation in teacher education.

Multi-Institutional Collaborative Resident Education in the Era of COVID-19.

The 2019-2020 coronavirus pandemic has had a significant impact on all aspects of health care. Decrease in clinical and operative volume and limitations for conferences has drastically decreased educational opportunities for resident trainees. We describe the formation and initial success of the Collaborative Online Video Didactics lecture series, a multi-institutional online video didactics collaboration. Zoom data extraction and postlecture evaluation surveys were used to collect data on the impact of the pandemic on local educational activities as well as feedback about the lecture series. Lectures are being given by faculty from 35 institutions. The twice daily, hour-long webinar averages more than 470 live viewers per session with an average of 33.5 questions per session and has over 7,000 YouTube views of the recordings after the first 2 weeks. Viewers reported significant decreases in outpatient (75.2%), inpatient (64.9%) and operating room (77.7%) volumes at local programs, and only half (52.7%) of the survey responders indicated an increase in didactics locally. The lectures have been well-received, with over 90% of respondents giving the lecturers and series above average or excellent ratings. A significant majority of responders indicated that the lecture series has allowed for ongoing education opportunities during the pandemic (95.0%), helped to access faculty experts from other institutions (92.3%) and provided a sense of community connectedness during this period of social isolation (81.7%). We strongly encourage other institutions and trainees to participate in the didactic series and hope that this series can continue to evolve and be of benefit beyond the pandemic.

LECTURER’S FEEDBACK AND ITS IMPACT ON STUDENT LEARNING: A STUDY OF A PUBLIC UNIVERSITY IN SARAWAK, MALAYSIA

Feedback is an essential part of effective learning. It helps students understand the subject being studied and gives them clear guidance on how to improve their learning. Feedback is one of the most powerful influences on learning and achievement, but this impact can be either positive or negative. Providing students with meaningful feedback can greatly enhance their learning and achievement. Lecturer’s feedback plays an integral part in enhancing student learning in higher education. While effective feedback has frequently been identified as a key strategy in learning and teaching, little known research has focused on students’ perceptions of feedback and the contribution feedback makes to students’ learning. This study examined the impact of lecturer feedback on student learning. This study involved both Degree and diploma students studying in various fields in a local university in Sarawak. The sample size used for the study is 370 students. Lecturer feedback was measured using a scale developed by Susan Brookhart (2008). The results of the study show a significant positive relationship between lecturer feedback and student learning. Another finding of the study is that motivational feedback is the main determinant of student learning followed by mode of feedback. This study also highlights how feedback can enhance student learning in higher education. Limitations and recommendations are discussed.