Releasing feedback three days before the grade got more students to read it

The study

1. 01

   Who took part

   Study 1: 116 second-year psychology students at a Scottish university. 61 got their grade first and 55 got feedback first. Study 2: third-year psychology students at another UK university. About 100 were in the year that got feedback first, and about 95 in the year before.

2. 02

   What they did

   Students got written comments on a lab report three days before their mark. In study 1, the other group got their mark three days before the comments. In study 2, the year before got both at the same time, and students were not assigned to years at random.

3. 03

   What happened

   In study 2, 95 in 100 students in the feedback-first year opened their feedback, against 78 in 100 the year before. Report marks also rose more with feedback first in both studies. But in study 1 the groups started with different marks, and study 2 compared two different years. The paper's group sizes don't match across its sections.

What the study found

1. Helped

   With feedback three days before the grade, 95 in 100 students opened it, against 78 in 100 the year before.

   • Rule: Get feedback on your progressused

   Randomised trial of 116 psychology undergraduates at two UK universities · vs last year's students, who got grade and feedback together · behaviour was recorded · ⚠ unclear how groups were picked; numbers unreliable; summary claims more than the results show

2. Helped

   Students who got feedback before the grade improved report marks more than the grade-first group, but started with lower marks.

   • Rule: Get feedback on your progressused

   Randomised trial of 116 psychology undergraduates at two UK universities · vs students who got their grade three days earlier · behaviour was recorded · ⚠ unclear how groups were picked; numbers unreliable; summary claims more than the results show

Source