Impact of Teacher Feedback on Student Motivation

Tate Madison

Abstract

This research project aims to investigate the impact of teacher feedback on student motivation. In college, your success is entirely due to your motivation to do your coursework, study for exams, and even attend class. You can simply decide to try or not to try to succeed in higher education institutions. We often hear of athletes quitting their sports due to bad coaches, or at the very least, losing their love for their sport, and how this can all be reversed when the athlete transfers schools/teams and is now surrounded by new staff. This study will explore the same phenomenon in academic settings. Students put a lot of pressure on themselves to succeed, often without considering the impact of their new educators and staff. This study looks at how the quantity and quality of teacher feedback impacts the students' motivation to succeed in the course and motivation to do well on assignments/exams.

Introduction

Coming to college, many students have never previously had the necessity to be self-motivating. Whether it’s a high school teacher reminding students to study for an upcoming exam and giving time during class to do so, or parents asking, “Did you do your homework?” at the dinner table, in high school, there are constant reminders and encouragement to complete assignments. High schools have a strict schedule and each day looks roughly the same with constant instruction, and it’s often more effort to skip class, and making the choice not to complete an assignment comes with pestering from faculty and parents. Having the motivation to go to class, complete coursework, and study for exams is a struggle for many students once they’ve arrived on campus and no longer have these constant external motivating factors. Many great students simply struggle with motivation, and there’s so much that universities and teachers can do to improve motivation. This study will investigate the impact of teacher feedback on student motivation to succeed in the course and motivation to do well on assignments/exams. I hypothesize that students who receive higher amounts and higher perceived quality of feedback from teachers will report an increased motivation to succeed in the course overall and on assignments/exams.

Methodology: Impact of Teacher Feedback on Student Motivation

Participants: In this study, participants will be college students between the ages of 18 and 25 years old. Participants filled out a Google Forms survey on the impact of teacher feedback on assignments, projects, and exams, and their motivation to succeed overall in the course and do well on coursework. This survey will be completed anonymously, but it will collect some demographics such as age, race, gender identity, etc., which may show differences in the data. This study received survey responses from 16 participants.

Materials: This survey was created through Google Forms. This survey consists of two parts. Part 1 is Demographics, consisting of 7 demographic questions. Part 2 is Teacher Feedback & Student Motivation, containing Likert-scale questions on their given teacher feedback on assignments, projects, and exams, followed by their motivation to succeed overall in the course and do well on coursework. Part 2 contains 12 Likert-scale questions and 3 short-answer questions.

Procedure: The survey was provided to participants through various means, including an online discussion board and social media sites. The survey will inform participants that it is voluntary and tell them what the study is about. In the survey, participants will first be asked for their consent to participate. In the first section, participants will be asked various demographic questions. In the second section, participants will be asked questions related to the feedback they’ve been given on assignments, projects, and exams, followed by their motivation to succeed overall in the course and do well on coursework.

Results

This survey received 16 responses from undergraduate students. Their ages ranged from 19-22 and roughly a third were in their second, third, and fourth years each. The survey consisted of 12 questions regarding teacher feedback in a specific course and subsequently, their motivation in said course, followed by 3 general open-ended questions about feedback and motivation. Students reported receiving feedback on assignments and projects/exams with an average rating of 2.19 out of 4, indicating a moderate frequency. Students rated the quality of this feedback to be a 2.25 out of 4 and rated its helpfulness a bit higher at a 2.56 out of 4. When asked how much feedback impacts their motivation to succeed, students rated it an average of 2.5 out of 4. Students rated their motivation to complete assignments a 3.31 out of 4, while their motivation to study for exams was lower at 2.69 out of 4. Motivation to succeed in the course received an overall rating of 3.5 out of 4. When asked whether receiving feedback increases motivation to complete assignments and study, students provided an average rating of 2.5 out of 4. Responses were stronger when asked whether they feel more motivated receiving detailed feedback compared to brief or no feedback, with an average rating of 3.31 out of 4. The extent to which feedback caused students to change their approach to studying or assignments was rated 3 out of 4. Recurring themes in the open-ended questions showed a strong preference for clear, constructive, and detailed feedback, especially when specific notes for improvement were included. Several students mentioned that step-by-step explanations, actionable commentary, specific comments on assignments, and encouragement from teachers were motivating factors. Students emphasize that teachers could improve motivation by providing more interactive feedback, clear communication, positive affirmations, and maintaining engagement in the classroom.

Discussion

This study aimed to explore the impact of teacher feedback on student motivation. Students answered a variety of questions on their motivation to do well on assignments, study for exams, and succeed in the course overall. Students reported receiving feedback a moderate amount of 2.19 out of 4. They rated the quality of such at a 2.25 out of 4, and a slightly higher rating for its helpfulness at a 2.56 out of 4. Students said feedback impacts their motivation to succeed at a 2.5, with stronger responses to the comparison of detailed to brief feedback, at a 3.31. Recurring themes on the open-ended questions consist of a preference for constructive and detailed feedback, along with actionable and specific commentary. These results are in line with the literature review and previous studies done around this topic. These have also shown a preference for more detailed and constructive feedback, and studies have shown this to be an indicator and have an impact on learning and course success as well. Some limitations of this study are the sample size, with these results reflecting only 16 participants. This is due to the timing and reach of the study, with participants mainly being those in this course— Psychology 2311. Another limitation is the self-report nature of the data, with students deciding on which course they’d like to have in mind when responding. For future studies, it may prove useful to have fewer students complete feedback assessments on many of their courses to analyze the differences among the same students in different classes. This would rid the variability of students choosing what courses to reflect on and their motivation levels being a factor. This could be done by following a student throughout their university experience and in different courses.

References

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This independent research study was done under Dr Lisa Miller, The Ohio State University Department of Psychology, for the course Psychology 2311, Psychology of Motivation.