‘Give–and–take in the practice of feedback’: formative written feedback as perceived by the secondary science students and teachers

Abstract

Despite the growing interest and the substantial attention given for the instructional power of feedback in recent feedback literature, findings indicate the existence of differing assumptions and beliefs on feedback. Given the strong association between conceptions of and engagement with feedback, this study aimed to examine how written feedback is commonly perceived within the UAE secondary science learning contexts. An explanatory sequential mixed-methods design was employed via questionnaires to examine feedback perceptions of 10th graders (n = 351) and their science teachers (n = 50), followed by interviews with a smaller subset of participants from the same pool (n = 22) to further explain the initial data. The integrated findings showed a variance in perceptions about written feedback, specifically on issues pertaining to the meaning of feedback, the corrective and praising functions of feedback, as well as for expectations related to the student and the teacher role in the feedback practice. The practical implications of the results are discussed in light of the social constructivist feedback research for making feedback more meaningful and engaging.

Keywords: Assessment, Formative Assessment, Feedback, Feedback Practices, Perceptions of feedback