Choice in Feedback Mediums
Korinn Ostrow; Neil T. Heffernan
Artificial Intelligence in Education (AIED) -- 2015
Keywords
Choice; Adaptive Tutoring; Feedback Medium; Learning Outcomes
Research Brief
This study explored the effects of student choice and feedback styles (text vs video). Within an ASSISTments assignment on Multiplying Simple Fractions, the authors randomly assigned 82 middle school students to two conditions: Choice or No Choice. Within each condition, students then either chose or were randomly assigned (respectively), text or video feedback.
The assignment used a mastery learning format and each problem included three hints as either text feedback or as short (15-30 second) video snippets. Regardless of feedback style, the first two hints for each problem posed a static worked example and its solution, while the third hint for each problem walked students through the solution to the problem itself.
Of 78 students who completed the assignment, those who were able to choose their feedback style at the start of the assignment outperformed those who were randomly assigned a medium, exhibiting a 12% increase in assignment score on average while using fewer hints and attempts. Results suggested that even if students did not use the available feedback, they exhibited an 8% increase in assignment score on average after being able to choose feedback styles with which they might engage.
Despite a small sample size of treated students, findings from this intervention offered evidence for enhancing students motivation and learning outcomes by instilling actionable choices within online learning systems.
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Figure 1. The format of hint feedback seen by students who chose or were randomly assigned to the text condition.
Figure 2. The format of hint feedback seen by students who chose or were randomly assigned to the video condition.
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Figure 3. The choice prompt & confirmation
received by students assigned to the choice condition.
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Study Materials
Follow the links below to experience each piece of the study from a student's perspective:
The full paper and additional content are available below:
>> Paper (Springer)
>> Paper (Prepublication)
Paper Citation Ostrow, K., Heffernan N. T. (2015). The Role of Student Choice Within Adaptive Tutoring. In: Conati, Heffernan, Mitrovic & Verdejo (EDs) Proceedings of the 17th International Conference on Artificial Intelligence in Education (AIED). Springer International Publishing. Madrid, Spain. June 22-26. 752-755.
Acknowledgements
NSF (1316736, 1252297, 1109483, 1031398, 0742503, 1440753); the U.S. Dept. of Ed. GAAN (P200A120238); ONR’s “STEM Grand Challenges”; IES (R305A120125, R305C100024)