The Power of Feedback Revisited: A Meta-Analysis of Educational Feedback Research
Summary
The provided scientific resource focuses on feedback in educational contexts, particularly exploring its effectiveness on student learning outcomes. The study employs a meta-analytic approach to integrate empirical research on feedback effects. It discusses research questions related to the overall effect of feedback on student learning and the moderation by specific feedback characteristics. The methodology involves identifying primary studies, calculating effect sizes, conducting heterogeneity tests, outlier analysis, and moderator analysis. The study reveals medium-high average effect sizes for feedback, with notable variability across different forms and contexts.
Key Topics
- Effectiveness of Feedback: The study investigates the impact of feedback on student learning outcomes, emphasizing the importance of different feedback characteristics.
- Meta-analysis Methodology: Detailed description of the methodology used in conducting a meta-analysis, including study selection criteria, data extraction, effect size calculation, and heterogeneity tests.
- Moderator Analysis: Examination of various moderators like research design, publication type, outcome measure, type of feedback, and feedback channel to understand how they influence the effectiveness of feedback.
- Variability in Feedback Effects: Discussion on the significant variability in feedback effects based on different forms of feedback and educational contexts.
- Publication Bias: Addressing potential biases in publication types and their impact on reported feedback effects.
Abstract
A meta-analysis (435 studies, k = 994, N > 61,000) of empirical research on the effects of feedback on student learning was conducted with the purpose of replicating and expanding the Visible Learning research (Hattie and Timperley (2007); Hattie, 2009; Hattie and Zierer, 2019) from meta-synthesis. Overall results based on a random-effects model indicate a medium effect (d = 0.48) of feedback on student learning, but the significant heterogeneity in the data shows that feedback cannot be understood as a single consistent form of treatment. A moderator analysis revealed that the impact is substantially influenced by the information content conveyed. Furthermore, feedback has higher impact on cognitive and motor skills outcomes than on motivational and behavioral outcomes. We discuss these findings in the light of the assumptions made in The power of feedback (Hattie and Timperley (2007)). In general, the results suggest that feedback has rightly become a focus of teaching research and practice. However, they also point toward the necessity of interpreting different forms of feedback as independent measures.
Reference
Wisniewski, B., Zierer, K., & Hattie, J. (2020). The Power of Feedback Revisited: A Meta-Analysis of Educational Feedback Research. Frontiers in Psychology, 10, 3087. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.03087