Analysing feedback processes in an online teaching and learning environment: An exploratory study

Abstract

Within the constructivist framework of online distance education the feedback process is considered a key element in teachers’ roles because it can promote the regulation of learning. Therefore, faced with the need to guide and train teachers in the kind of feedback to provide and how to provide it, we establish three aims for this research: identify the presence of feedback according to the regulation of learning required; characterise this feedback according to content (i.e. the meaning of feedback); and, finally, to explore possible relationships between feedback and the results of the teaching and learning process (i.e. students’ satisfaction and final grades). The results for a sample of 186 students, taking nine courses at the Open University of Catalonia, are discussed in the light of feedback, which is considered a central element in university teaching practice in online environments. We conclude that, in general, the presence of feedback is associated with improved levels of performance and higher levels of satisfaction with the general running of the course.

Publication
Higher Education, 59(3), 277-292

Citation

Espasa, A., & Meneses, J. (2010). Analysing feedback processes in an online teaching and learning environment: An exploratory study. Higher Education, 59(3), 277-292. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10734-009-9247-4
Julio Meneses
Julio Meneses
Full Professor

Professor de metodologia de la investigació, director de Learning Analytics de l’eLearning Innovation Center i investigador de l’Internet Interdisciplinary Institute de la Universitat Oberta de Catalunya.

Related