Voice Assessment of Student Work

Abstract

Although relatively little attention has been given to the voice assessment of student work, at least when compared with more traditional forms of text-based review, the attention it has received strongly points to a promising form of review that has been hampered by the limits of an emerging technology. A fresh review of voice assessment in light of recent technological developments strongly suggests that this form of review is now ready for broad adoption. Favorable student reception of voice assessment and its potential for raising instructor awareness around the review process itself argue further for considering it afresh.

Modes of feedback in ESL writing: Implications of shifting from text to screencast

“…Sommers (1989) reported that about half the composition students in a study of audio feedback listened more than once and took notes. Similar behaviors have been seen with audio feedback in disciplinary writing contexts as students listened multiple times and made changes on the draft or took notes (Eckhouse & Carroll, 2013;Moore & Filling, 2012) with some reporting reviewing the audio for other classes (Eckhouse & Carroll, 2013). With screencasts, students likewise report watching the videos multiple times (Anson, forthcoming) shortly after receiving them (J.…”

“…reported as easier to understand than text by university geography (Rodway-Dyer, Knight, & Dunne, 2011) and business communication undergraduates (Eckhouse & Carroll, 2013). Students have noted issues with digital audio feedback, such as it being too fast or containing harsh or difficult-to-hear comments (Eckhouse & Carroll, 2013).…”

“…reported as easier to understand than text by university geography (Rodway-Dyer, Knight, & Dunne, 2011) and business communication undergraduates (Eckhouse & Carroll, 2013). Students have noted issues with digital audio feedback, such as it being too fast or containing harsh or difficult-to-hear comments (Eckhouse & Carroll, 2013). In a study of audio feedback in an online teaching strategies course, Ice, Curtis, Phillips, and Wells (2007) found that audio feedback led to better content retention, student feelings of engagement and greater likelihood of application.…”

“…Although researcher-as-instructor is common in technology-mediated feedback studies (e.g. Batt & Wilson, 2008;Byrne, 2007;Chiu & Savignon, 2006;Ducate & Arnold, 2012;Eckhouse & Carroll, 2013;Gaskell & Cobb, 2004), this option was not pursued because the researcher was not teaching an appropriate ESL writing class. Training the cooperating instructor to give screencast feedback for this exploratory study would have added an undesirable layer of complexity and uncertainty through training variables.…”

Introduction

“…However, recent studies have indicated that using screen capture technologies (e.g., Camtasia, Jing, etc.) and audio feedback have helped students apply instructor comments to their own writing (Eckhouse and Carroll 2013). Audio and video feedback does not take the place of written comments, but rather, it provides an opportunity for the instructor to clarify those comments.…”