Enhancing Student Learning by Narrowing the Gap between Feedback Giving and Feedback Receiving

Feedback is one of the most powerful influences on learning and achievement. However the mere provision of feedback to students does not necessarily lead to improved learning. Feedback is ineffective if it does not close the gap between learning goals and students? performance. Often students do not have clear goals and they do not know what learning activities will improve their learning performance. Consequently the opportunity to learn from the feedback is lost. Learning is a social process and while young people have increasingly strong social needs they struggle with academic language. This study investigates the influence of lecturers? feedback on students? learning and whether first year electronic engineering students at the Institute of Technology Tallaght Dublin (ITTD) benefit from a peer evaluation environment where students are enabled to detect and communicate quality criteria for specific coursework. A qualitative approach is used to capture students? views. The results show that the opportunity to learn from lecturer feedback is not fully utilised. Instead learning is best achieved interactively and in a non-threatening environment. Students willingly engage in both giving and receiving feedback and clarifying misunderstandings and they show improved motivation. Engagement in a guided peer feedback environment additionally improves self-regulation, critical thinking skills and communications.