Students' Experiences with and Preferences for Instructor Feedback on Writing Assignments in Disciplinary Content Courses

This study sought to better understand students' experiences with instructor feedback on writing assignments. Undergraduate students (n = 162) completed an online survey about the frequency, type, and nature of feedback they received from instructors, their feedback preferences, their satisfaction with feedback, and their use of feedback. Findings suggested that students preferred to receive feedback via Blackboard and feedback content that was positive, contained suggestions for improvement, and noted why points were deducted. Students preferred handwritten and face-to-face feedback much more than they received it. Preferred versus received feedback discrepancies were associated with students' feedback satisfaction and end-of-semester teaching evaluation ratings.