Exploring writer vs content focused reference in written student feedback: mixed evidence from quantitative and content analysis results

Abstract

Emotional reaction to negative academic feedback can be a barrier to students’ engagement with that feedback. One factor that may impact students’ emotional response is whether the marker addresses the feedback to the student (e.g., “Your writing”) or focuses on the content (e.g., “The writing”). This exploratory study investigated how form of address in feedback impacts emotional reaction. Student participants (N=106) read simulated feedback statements that varied according to reference type (pronominal “your”, neutral “the”) and feedback polarity (positive, negative) and provided ratings for emotional response, as well as attention paid to, and usefulness. An open response question queried participants’ perceptions regarding personal or neutral address from markers in assessment feedback. There was no significant effect of reference type on quantitative feedback ratings for emotion, attention, or usefulness, but qualitative content analysis revealed that half the sample preferred neutral address, largely to mitigate the emotional impact of negative feedback. Feedback polarity had a consistent significant effect where students perceived positive feedback as higher in happy emotion and higher in usefulness compared to negative feedback. There was a more nuanced pattern for attention, where there was only a small decrease in attention for positive compared to negative feedback for neutral references. Our results flag the role of individual differences in student preferences for feedback and inform practice for educators in terms of how written feedback can be framed to facilitate engagement.