Tutor Feedback Research Articles

Students' perceptions of tutor feedback: a pilot study.

Feedback offered to dental students by their tutors should aim to elicit ongoing learning and motivation. Previous studies looked at the impact on learning of feedback delivered by tutors from tutors' perspectives. However, what students know about feedback and its purposes and how they experience them during their study effect the impact of feedback on learning. The aim of this pilot study was to assess the proprieties of tutor feedback and its impact on future learning from the students' perspective. A short questionnaire based cross sectional survey was designed and delivered electronically to 135 undergraduate and postgraduate students at Brescia Dental School, Italy. The questionnaire consisted of 16 questions which were divided into 3 sections. Quantitative data were collected via Google Forms, the analysis of the data was undertaken using SPSS software, Version 24. Sixty-one students (45.2%) responded to the questionnaire. Forty-one of respondents (67.2%) were undergraduate students and 20 (32.8%) were postgraduate students. The vast majority of students indicated that they received feedback, thirty (49.2%) indicated that it was delivered by tutors and eight (13.1%) by fellow students. Further, students reported that feedback was timely, delivered within two weeks of assessments and that constructive criticism was the favoured feedback style (N.=52, 85.2%). Most students felt that the feedback they received helped with ongoing learning (N.=54, 88.5%). Most of the respondents considered that feedback received at Brescia Dental school did have a positive impact on their learning. This is of course what tutors hope would be the case but nevertheless it is gratifying to receive this endorsement from the respondent students. A more comprehensive study involving multiple dental schools in different learning environments will now be undertaken, including the collection of qualitative data.

Temporary Transitions to Online Problem-based Learning: Advice for Tutors and Learners

We provide a narrative review of the crucial elements for online Problem Based Learning (PBL) and a reflective overview of factors to consider when temporarily moving to online tutorials, forming a practical guide for educators in the health professions and beyond. We give general set-up advice based on the literature and our own recent experience (tutor and learner observational feedback, departmental meeting notes, newly-developed written resources and performance reports) of transitioning between temporary online PBL and face-to-face PBL but note that the majority of this advice translates easily to many types of virtual, interactive tutorial. We also include contextual evidence and theories from existing literature, with a focus on online PBL facilitation, learning and quality assurance. Despite widespread implementation of online teaching, there remain unanswered questions about whether deep learning occurs. The focus of this reflective paper is to better align online PBL practice with the principles of contextual, active, collaborative and self-directed learning and learning issues to be pursued.

Exploring narrative feedback to undergraduate dental hygiene and dental therapy students.

The nature and quality of feedback provided during the training of healthcare students have been found to influence the progress of students throughout their clinical practice. The use of electronic systems for feedback is becoming more prevalent; but there appears to be an absence of research into the use of these systems with Dental Hygiene and Dental Therapy students (DHDT). The aim of this study was to explore the written, narrative feedback provided by tutors to undergraduate DHDT students on a 3-year BSc programme, using Liftupp - an Information Management System that incorporates electronic feedback mechanisms. The data comprised written, narrative feedback to DHDT students (n=96) on clinical performance in academic Years Two and Three entered into Liftupp by five clinical tutors (n=5) over 2 academic years. These feedback comments were subjected to a thematic analysis and matrix queries using NVivo. Ten major themes were identified. Preliminary findings indicated that the constructive "Descriptive" theme was prominent across all tutors, while other constructive themes: "Directive" and "Positive" were linked more to individual tutors. The less constructive themes were infrequent in tutor feedback. In addition, unique feedback profiles for tutors were generated. The analysis of narrative feedback from tutors on Liftupp enables the identification of feedback trends that can be reviewed and shared with tutors to improve the quality of their feedback. In addition, this research can be used to inform tutor training to promote the use of meaningful and effective feedback. Potential further research and limitations have been identified.

Medical Staff Teaching Experience During COVID-19 Pandemic

Background and Aims: The COVID-19 pandemic changed teaching and learning methods across the world. This cross-sectional study aimed to assess clinical tutor feedback on the e-learning at Taibah University Medical College during pandemic. Methods: Consenting medical faculty were asked to provide their feedback through an electronic semi-structured questionnaire which had both multiple choice and Likert scale responses. Sociodemographic data were also collected. The study was approved by Institutional Ethics Committee. Results: A total of 66 medical faculty members were participated. Most of the respondents were females (53%), almost half of them were Saudi nationals, and 48.4% had fewer than ten years of teaching experience. Most respondents felt that online teaching was the preferred choice during the pandemic, but over half of them (56.1%) favored classroom teaching for medical students. Almost fifty percent of the faculty members had not undergone training for medical education or online teaching. 86.4% of them felt that knowledge could be imparted through online teaching, but communication skills and psychomotor skills couldn’t be acquired by online teaching. Around 60% of teachers felt that it is difficult to assess the students through the virtual teaching method. Conclusions: The medical faculty members believe that e-learning is time-consuming, it decreases student-teacher interaction, and student evaluation and assessment are more difficult than classroom teaching. Virtual teaching is good for imparting knowledge; however, it is not the preferred method for teaching communication and psychomotor skills.

Keep Me in the Loop: Real-Time Feedback with Multimodal Data

This paper describes the CPR Tutor, a real-time multimodal feedback system for cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) training. The CPR Tutor detects training mistakes using recurrent neural networks. The CPR Tutor automatically recognises and assesses the quality of the chest compressions according to five CPR performance indicators. It detects training mistakes in real-time by analysing a multimodal data stream consisting of kinematic and electromyographic data. Based on this assessment, the CPR Tutor provides audio feedback to correct the most critical mistakes and improve the CPR performance. The mistake detection models of the CPR Tutor were trained using a dataset from 10 experts. Hence, we tested the validity of the CPR Tutor and the impact of its feedback functionality in a user study involving additional 10 participants. The CPR Tutor pushes forward the current state of the art of real-time multimodal tutors by providing: (1) an architecture design, (2) a methodological approach for delivering real-time feedback using multimodal data and (3) a field study on real-time feedback for CPR training. This paper details the results of a field study by quantitatively measuring the impact of the CPR Tutor feedback on the performance indicators and qualitatively analysing the participants’ questionnaire answers.

Development and evaluation of clinical reasoning using ‘think aloud’ approach in pharmacy undergraduates – A mixed-methods study

IntroductionGiven the widespread use of clinical reasoning (CR) in the healthcare practice, it is essential to inculcate the CR practice in undergraduate pharmacy education which can not only facilitate their clinical education and clinical rotations but can also help them become better clinical pharmacists. There is very limited CR employed in the pharmacy curriculum and practice in the Middle East countries. This study aimed to develop and evaluate CR practice in pharmacy undergraduates in one college of pharmacy in Saudi Arabia. MethodsWe employed a mixed-methods methodology that included two phases. In Phase I, students were introduced to CR practice (‘think aloud’ method) and given geriatric clinical cases which they used in two sessions together with a tutor. This was followed by the writing of SOAP notes using the tutor feedback and completion of a survey that included a self-reflection about their experience of using the CR method. Phase II included face-to-face semi-structured interviews involving selected students that were recruited via convenience sampling to further explore the issues identified in Phase I of the study. ResultsOf the 155 students who completed the survey (response rate 94%), the majority of them agreed that CR using the ‘think aloud’ method was useful in gathering (92%) and interpreting (95%) relevant patient information, identifying medication-related problems (95%), exploring therapeutic options for the problem(s) (93%) and formulating a treatment plan for the patient (90%). Qualitative data analysis of the 12 interviews was consistent with these findings. Furthermore, it provided an insight into the challenges faced by the students in applying this CR method. ConclusionsStudents found the practice of CR using the ‘think aloud’ method helpful in working through given cases and taking clinical decisions. This method can be widely employed in pharmacy education and practice.

Teaching research methods to undergraduate dental students

The provision of undergraduate statistics teaching varies across UK dental schools, but some challenges are faced in all schools. These include the need to (i) demonstrate the relevance of statistics to dentistry, (ii) address the phenomenon of statistical anxiety likely to be experienced, and (iii) deliver the teaching with a limited number of statistically trained staff. Our objective was to design a research methods course that combined epidemiology and statistics teaching for undergraduates at Bristol Dental School (University of Bristol) that was clinically relevant, focused on concepts and interpretation rather than calculation, and was sustainable, using new technology to enhance learning. The research methods course was introduced in 2008, extensively developed over the next two years based on student and tutor feedback, and has run with only minor updates ever since. The aim of the course is to introduce year 2 dental students to the skills needed to practice evidence-based dentistry, i.e. understand and critically appraise published research. Basic epidemiological concepts, different types of study design, summarising and interpreting data, and choosing appropriate statistical analyses are covered. The course is introduced by a face-to-face lecture. This emphasises the relevance to future careers, and pre-empts the feelings of statistical anxiety by presenting evidence that exam results for this course are not associated with having achieved an A-level in mathematics. The rest of the course is delivered using the flipped classroom approach. Didactic teaching is in the form of nine e-lectures, each lasting 20-25 minutes. These are split into chapters to allow easy navigation, and include pop-up questions. Small group (up to 10 students) structured tutorials (one per e-lecture) are used to reinforce the material covered in the e-lectures, drawing on real clinical examples from research publications. They are interactive, and also include e-voting quizzes to allow the tutors and students to gauge the level of understanding that is being achieved. At the end of the course there is a revision session and written assessment, which must be passed before students can progress to year 3 of the dental degree. Approximately 70 students take the course each year, split into eight groups, and tutorials are based on pre-prepared materials. Tutoring on this course provides an attractive opportunity to gain teaching experience, with only a modest investment in time. Therefore, it has always been possible to recruit enough statisticians or epidemiologists in the Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Bristol to act as tutors. At least 89% of the students have passed the exam on first sitting each year, and all students have passed their re-sit exam. Marks ranged from 50-86% in 2019, and similar ranges were seen in previous years. Student feedback is consistently high, with virtually all students rating all components of the course at least satisfactory, and high percentages rating them good or excellent (e-lectures and tutorials were rated to be good or excellent by 72% and 95% of the students respectively in 2019). External examiners have been very complimentary, and only ever requested minor changes. Hence it has been possible to run a sustainable research methods course that engages students’ interest and produces excellent learning outcomes.

Formative assessment and feedback for learning in higher education: A systematic review

AbstractFeedback is an integral part of education and there is a substantial body of trials exploring and confirming its effect on learning. This evidence base comes mostly from studies of compulsory school age children; there is very little evidence to support effective feedback practice at higher education, beyond the frameworks and strategies advocated by those claiming expertise in the area. This systematic review aims to address this gap. We review causal evidence from trials of feedback and formative assessment in higher education. Although the evidence base is currently limited, our results suggest that low stakes‐quizzing is a particularly powerful approach and that there are benefits for forms of peer and tutor feedback, although these depend on implementation factors. There was mixed evidence for praise, grading and technology‐based feedback. We organise our findings into several evidence‐grounded categories and discuss the next steps for the field and evidence‐informed feedback practice in universities. Context and implicationsRationale for this studyTo gain a better understanding of effective formative assessment and feedback approaches in higher education (HE). To promote a more evidence‐informed approach to teaching and learning in universities.Why the new findings matterThe findings highlight a small number of promising strategies for formative assessment and feedback in HE. They also draw attention to a lack of (quality) evidence in this area overall.Implications for policy‐makers and practitionersUniversities and their regulators/funders should be encouraging and supporting more, high‐quality research in this important area. Researchers in the field also need to look to developing more ambitious, higher‐quality studies which are likely to provide robust, causal conclusions about academic effectiveness (or other outcomes). Those involved in teaching and learning in university should use the findings to inform evidence‐informed approaches to formative assessment and feedback and to challenge approaches which do not appear to have foundations in strong evidence. Students could be made more aware of teaching and learning approaches that are likely to support their academic progress.

L2 Learners’ Perceptions of Their Writing Strategies on an Intensive EAP Course

This study examines second language (L2) learners’ perceptions of their writing strategies on an intensive English for Academic Purposes (EAP) programme at a British university. The participants were 14 Chinese pre-undergraduate students who engaged in interviews and completed reflective journal entries. The results of the analyses indicate that after four weeks of studying on the EAP course, students believed that they started to apply a broader range of writing strategies, such as reading extensively, using exemplars of student writing to inform their own assignments, revising in a more focused manner and appreciating tutor feedback on their writing. Thus, the perceived increase in the use of various writing strategies is indicative of the potential effectiveness of a short EAP pre-sessional course.

Linking Labs, Writing, and Information Literacy to Improve Student Success

Our research and technical writing class develops discipline specific communication and critical thinking skills as a flexible hybrid corequisite to first upper division science laboratory courses. It scaffolds ethics, writing mechanics, information literacy, self-promotion and synthesis assignments focused on the science writing genre (lab notebooks, research papers, posters, grants, online, CVs). Students generate and interpret data from graphs, construct explanations, and practice linking empirical claims to evidence. Instructor, peer and writing tutor feedback is provided on drafts to fulfill California State University’s graduate writing assessment requirement. Significant improvement on final research papers following the course interventions was measured.

The challenges of delivering addictions psychiatry teaching in the COVID era

AimsDuring the pandemic, addiction psychiatry moved from face-to-face lectures (delivered by Addictions Psychiatrists) to bitesize pre-recorded lectures (delivered by clinical teaching fellows) alongside interactive tutorials (delivered by Addictions Psychiatrists). The Addictions Team developed an online tutorial (delivered via Blackboard Collaborate) containing a combination of information slides, case studies, interactive quizzes, and short videos. These were delivered ‘live’ to small groups of students in up to four simultaneous virtual classrooms on a 6-weekly rolling basis. We aimed to assess student and tutor feedback regarding the move to interactive online tutorials in addiction psychiatry.MethodTwo questionnaires sought feedback from students and tutors, focussing on the change from face-to-face to virtual teaching during a 20-week period.Result21 (of 161) students completed the questionnaire. •100% ‘strongly agreed’ or ‘agreed’ that the content of the tutorial was relevant to learning outcomes.•52% felt ‘somewhat comfortable’ unmuting their microphones to contribute verbally, contrasting to 24% feeling ‘not very’ or ‘extremely uncomfortable’. In practice, only 30% of students contributed verbally.•57% felt most comfortable contributing via the written ‘chat’ function (rather than audio or camera).•65% felt either ‘somewhat’ or ‘very comfortable’ turning their cameras on, but only 1 student turned their camera on across all tutorials.•48% felt the tutorial was more accessible virtually than face-to-face; 5% considered it less so.•When COVID restrictions are lifted, 14% would prefer the tutorial to remain virtual, 53% would rather it returned face-to-face, and 33% had no preference.7 (of 7) tutors completed the questionnaire. •100% felt that students having their camera on would make their experience of delivering teaching ‘much better’ or ‘better’.•71% of tutors felt that students contributed ‘slightly’ or ‘significantly’ less in the virtual classroom.•Only 29% of tutors found the experience of virtual teaching ‘very’ or ‘somewhat’ enjoyable, contrasting 43% finding it ‘somewhat’ or ‘very’ unenjoyable.•Several white space tutor comments suggested the lack of audio-visual engagement made teaching less rewarding, whilst also preventing them from adapting content, pace, and teaching style to suit the group's needs. Tutors felt that the ease of delivering teaching from any location was beneficial.ConclusionVirtual teaching has become embedded in medical education and will likely remain so post-pandemic. For it to be an effective and enjoyable experience, for both students and teachers, there needs to be adaptation of content, technology, etiquette and culture.

Emergency remote learning in anatomy during the COVID-19 pandemic: A study evaluating academic factors contributing to anxiety among first year medical students

Background‘Emergency remote learning’ (ERL) has been undertaken as an emergency response globally to facilitate online shift of medical education due to COVID-19. Although medical students world-wide have reported an increased level of anxiety, factors in the academic setting during ERL that influenced anxiety levels have not been studied yet. The present study aimed to evaluate anxiety levels of first year medical students and its correlation with academic factors during ERL. MethodsERL for neuroanatomy was conducted for six weeks mainly by online small group teaching. At completion, feedback was collected from students (n = 97) which included a GAD-7 questionnaire for anxiety levels and a modified VARK analysis to record changes in learning styles. ResultsOf 97 students (M46, F51) 43.30% had minimal, 31.96% mild, 10.31% moderate and 14.43% severe anxiety. Academic exchanges such as student–teacher interaction (80.41%), tutor feedback (90.72%) and mentor meetings (81.44%) were reported to be advantageous. There was a significant (p = 0.0056) correlation between enjoyment of small group discussion and lower GAD-7 scores. There was significant change in perceived learning styles during ERL. Video calls (p = 0.018) and gaming (p = 0.022) were significant modes of stress relief. There was significant correlation (p = 0.022) between gaming and GAD-7 scores. ConclusionAbout one-fourth of the students faced anxiety issues during ERL period. Small group interactions with focus on promoting connectedness and interaction, augmented by feedback, mentorship, familial and social support are important in reducing anxiety which should be kept in mind by educators while delivering such learning experiences.

Perception of medical students about problem-based learning at Jouf University.

To evaluate students' perceptions of problem-based learning tutorial sessions. The cross-sectional study was conducted at the College of Medicine, Jouf University, Al-Jawf Saudi Arabia, from March to May 2019, and comprised medical students in their clinical phase. Data was collected using an electronic questionnaire about students' perceptions of problem-based learning sessions, tutors' session facilitation, and tutors' student evaluation fairness. Data was analysed using SPSS 21. Of the 66 students approached, 51(77.27%) completed the questionnaire; 23(45%) males and 28(55%) females. The agreement mean perception score was 4.73±2.13 regarding various statements characterising problem-based learning sessions. Lesser mean score of agreement 1.33±1.07 was observed regarding tutors' facilitation of the sessions and their students' evaluation. Students perceived problem-based learning sessions as effective and interactive, but did not positively perceive tutors' evaluations.

‘The most important question is not ‘how?’ but ‘why?’: A multi-method exploration of a blended e-learning approach for teaching statistics within undergraduate psychology

Research methods and statistics are cornerstones of undergraduate psychology degrees. However, many students find the subject uninteresting and anxiety provoking, while educators find it challenging to teach. This multi-method action research project explored how e-learning activities within a blended learning context affected students’ experience of learning statistics. Data were gathered with first year undergraduate students via a survey (N=89), two focus groups (N=12), and interviews with educators (N=2). The e-learning activities were valued by students and staff, owing to the interactive, flexible approach to learning they afforded. The blended strategy provided an opportunity for students to develop intrinsic motivation to learn statistics, completing a range of activities to develop competence with autonomy. Social support from peer-networks and tutor feedback during face-to-face sessions facilitated deeper learning. These findings are timely, given increases in online teaching resulting from changing higher education landscapes and the Covid-19 pandemic.

ENTRENAMIENTO DE COMPETENCIAS PROCEDIMENTALES QUIRÚRGICAS BÁSICAS EN ESTUDIANTES DE MEDICINA MEDIANTE UN MODELO DE SIMULACIÓN (EPROBA)

Introducción: Los modelos de simulación otorgan entornos controlados para la práctica y la retroalimentación por parte de un tutor. Frente a una primera experiencia, nuestro grupo implementó un modelo simplificado y reproducible para el entrenamiento de habilidades quirúrgicas básicas.Objetivo: Comunicar los resultados de un taller de entrenamiento basado en simulación para la adquisición de habilidades quirúrgicas básicas en estudiantes de medicina.Material y método: Estudio cuasi experimental, antes y después, 124 estudiantes de medicina de cuarto año fueron entrenados con la metodología EPROBA (Entrenamiento PROcedimental BÁsico), previo consentimiento informado. Mediante el instrumento “The Objective Structured Assessment Of Technical Skills” (OSATS) se evaluó la técnica de sutura previo y posterior a la intervención. Se evaluó la percepción de los estudiantes mediante una encuesta validada. Para el análisis estadístico se utilizó SPSS24Ò y se usó la prueba Mann Whitney para variables no paramétricas considerando significativo p<0,05.Resultados: El grupo muestra un progreso promedio significativo en su desempeño procedimental. En la Lista de Comprobación OSATS muestra un progreso desde 4,1 puntos a 8,9 (p<0,001). En la Escala Global OSATS muestra un puntaje basal de 13,0 puntos, aumentando a 28,0 puntos (p<0,001). La intervención fue bien percibida, obteniendo un puntaje total promedio de 65,4 puntos de 68 máximos.Discusión y conclusión: En nuestra experiencia, un modelo simplificado demostró ser eficaz para el entrenamiento en habilidades procedimentales simples como suturas. Múltiples instancias de práctica deben ser otorgadas por las Facultades de Medicina para la retención y mejora de estas habilidades.

Promoting Prospective Teacher Competencies for Designing, Implementing, Evaluating, and Adapting Interactive Formative Feedback Strategies

Formative assessment and feedback strategies play a core role in effective learning and instruction. Thus, teachers should be able to effectively apply the theoretical and empirical insights on formative assessment and feedback strategies in their classrooms. However, designing and implementing formative feedback strategies are complex tasks. Based on the Interactive Tutoring Feedback Model we developed a seminar concept combining case-based reflections of empirically based principles for the design of formative feedback strategies; planning and designing formative feedback strategies for a typical oral or written student assignment; and implementing, evaluating, and iteratively adapting this feedback strategy using on-campus micro-teaching sessions. The benefits and constraints of this seminar concept were explored in an evaluation study with teacher students ( N = 87). Students participating in the treatment seminars had higher gains in knowledge and competencies compared to students of control groups that had either a short theoretical input or no input on feedback. Furthermore, they appreciated the mix of instructional and micro-teaching components, and rated the transferability of the knowledge and competencies they had acquired as high.

Evaluation of students’ clinical performance post-simulation training

IntroductionTraditionally in Australia, sonographer skills are learnt on patients in clinical practice. A four-year undergraduate-postgraduate course introduced ultrasound simulation to prepare novice sonographer students for interaction with patients. Second-year students learnt psychomotor and patient-sonographer communication skills during simulation using commercial ultrasound machines and volunteer year-group peers as standardised patients. This paper reports on the transfer of the ultrasound skills learnt in simulation to clinical practice. MethodsClinical performance evaluations were completed by 94 supervisors involved in the initial clinical practice of 174 post-simulation second-year students over a two-year period (2015–2016). Student performance of each component skill, and skill category, was analysed by modelling binomial proportions with logistic regression. ResultsStudents demonstrated substantial transfer of learnt ultrasound skills to achieve a mean of advanced beginner competence (mean score of equal to or >3/5) in complex psychomotor and patient-sonographer communication skills, as measured one month into clinical practice. Knowledge and skill components, or sub-tasks, varied significantly (P < 0.001) in transferability. Scanning tasks in general, particularly the skill of ‘extending the examination’, transferred with significantly (P < 0.001) less efficacy than pre-exam, instrumentation, post-exam, and additional tasks. Skill transfer improved significantly (P < 0.001) following increased deliberate practice with tutor feedback. ConclusionPreclinical simulation, using standardised patients, clearly stated objectives to manage cognitive load and immediate tutor feedback, facilitated substantial transfer of ultrasound skills to clinical practice. The efficacy of skill transfer varied but improved with increased deliberate practice and feedback quality. Implications for practiceThe incorporation of preclinical simulation into the core curriculum of sonographer courses is recommended to improve student performance, reduce the burden on clinical staff and increase patient safety during the early stages of ultrasound education.

Moodle quizzes and their usability for formative assessment of academic writing

Abstract This review discusses Moodle quizzes and their potential usefulness for formative assessment of academic writing. Moodle quizzes offer a wide variety of possibilities for the development of formative writing assessment. This is due to the impressive repertoire of choices with regard to specific tasks and to quiz design options available in Moodle. The key strength of Moodle quizzes, as used for formative assessment, is in supporting a sustained engagement with learning and offering multi-layered tutor feedback functionalities. However, Moodle quizzes come short of accommodating some of the essential features of formative writing assessment, such as peer review/feedback and a dialogic nature of student-tutor interactions. While the development of Moodle quizzes may require time and effort, in particular as related to navigating quiz design settings and understanding Moodle-specific and often counterintuitive language use, Moodle quizzes can prove valuable not only for formative assessment of academic writing, but also for giving reassurance to students that writing provision offered to them at universities is tailored to their specific needs and academic aspirations.

Investigating changes in self-evaluation of technical competences in the serious game Serena Supergreen: Findings, challenges and lessons learned

Self-evaluation of one’s competences is considered a core factor in various domains of human functioning, including learning and instruction, as well as academic and vocational choices. Researchers from the fields of metacognition and learning, as well as motivation and learning have thus intensively investigated issues related to the self-evaluation of competences. Insights from both lines of research have been used in the serious game project SERENA to inform the selection and design of technical tasks and tutorial feedback strategies. The main goal of the SERENA project was to develop a serious game for adolescent females that fosters their self-evaluation of competence regarding technical tasks. This paper describes how insights from metacognition, motivation and feedback research were integrated to inform the game design. Furthermore, it reports two evaluation studies conducted with 93 students in real school settings. The findings reveal that girls’ self-evaluation of competences assessed in terms of perceived technical competences and self-concept of technical abilities, as well as intrinsic motivation regarding technical tasks can be strengthened with the serious game Serena Supergreen. The log-file analyses indicate that seeking feedback and help within the game is associated with an increase in perceived competences. The challenges encountered within this applied research field are discussed.

Structuring experiments in biology lessons through teacher feedback

ABSTRACTStructure in the form of feedback has been shown to be highly relevant to students learning. Offering feedback, stating clear expectations and instructions, might enhance students’ perceived competence. The context chosen for this study were experiments studying bird flight in biology lessons. Students experimented in a scientific discovery learning environment as they offer plenty of opportunities for them to seek feedback while using hypothetical-deductive reasoning to work on their experiments. The aim of this study was to investigate the motivational effects of informative tutoring feedback compared to basic feedback. 165 students (50% female, 12.02 ± 0.68 years old) from the sixth and seventh grades of medium and high track German secondary schools took part in the study. In a pretest–posttest design, we tested the effects of basic or informative tutoring feedback on intrinsic motivation, flow experience, and knowledge acquisition. Motivation was assessed using an adapted version of the Intrinsic Motivation Inventory (IMI). For teacher behaviour providing informative tutoring feedback we found beneficial effects on intrinsic motivation and flow. Overall, the pre- and posttest showed that the students acquired knowledge through the course of the lessons.