Automatic daily feedback on study goals cut putting things off a little
Who it’s about: Students
- Helped
Students who got daily feedback on their goals and planning tips put things off a bit less than diary-only students.
- Rule: Get feedback on your progresstested
- Action: Track your progressused
- Rule: Every dayused
- Rule: Through an online programmeused
Randomised trial of 244 university students in Germany studying for exams · vs the same daily diary without feedback · they rated themselves · ⚠ numbers unreliable
- Helped
On days after feedback on goal progress, students put things off slightly less, with or without strategy tips.
Randomised trial of 244 university students in Germany studying for exams · vs days without feedback · they rated themselves · ⚠ numbers unreliable
The study
Who took part
244 students at a German university who were studying for exams. They were about 22 years old on average, and most were women. 257 signed up, and 13 who never filled in a diary were left out.
What they did
For 30 days, every student filled in a short online study diary each morning and evening. Three groups were picked by chance to get automatic feedback each evening on how their goals went, plus tips. The tips were about planning and checking progress, about motivation, or both. The fourth group kept the same diary with no feedback.
What happened
Over the month, students who got feedback with planning tips said they put things off a little less than the diary-only group. Feedback with only motivation tips made no clear difference. Some numbers in the paper don't add up and parts of the text are garbled, so treat the sizes with care.
Source
How Am I Going and Where to Next? Elaborated Feedback Improves University Students' Self-Regulated Learning and Performance (2023)
