1. LTC Seminar 21-1-09 Adjusting students' attitudes so that they benefit from feedback Quintin Cutts, Peter Saffrey Dept of Computing Science, Glasgow Uni Steve Draper Dept of Psychology, Glasgow Uni Emily Durrant Centre for Confidence and Well-being, Glasgow

2. LTC Seminar 21-1-09 Mindsets & Programming SuggestionSuggestion –Learning to program at university can easily generate a fixed M/S Very high number of failure messagesVery high number of failure messages School & university programming widely differentSchool & university programming widely different Very wide ability range in Yr 1 classesVery wide ability range in Yr 1 classes ParadoxicallyParadoxically –Experienced programmers must have a growth m/s –but a fixed mindset towards learners– "programmers born not made"

3. LTC Seminar 21-1-09 3 Implementations of Dweck Explicit Mindset Training - (M)Explicit Mindset Training - (M) –4 x 10-minute teaching sessions, led by tutors Crib sheet / Wiki - (W)Crib sheet / Wiki - (W) –originated from McCartney et al (2007) – "35 ways that students get unstuck" Feedback 'inducement' - (F)Feedback 'inducement' - (F) –Message on feedback sheet encouraging engagement

4. LTC Seminar 21-1-09 "Remember, learning to program can take a surprising amount of time and effort – students may get there at different rates, but almost all students who put in the time & effort get there eventually. Making good use of the feedback on this sheet is an essential part of this process." "Feedback points – mostly worth reading, even if not specifically identified for you." Mark (on a 4-point scale) held to bottom of second side of sheet. Main items for this student highlighted

5. LTC Seminar 21-1-09 Experiment ContextContext –Level 1, 2 semester (24 wk) course –2 lectures per week + 2hr lab/tutorial - 12 tutorial groups –Wk 6, Wk 13 class tests and Wk 12 lab exam Interventions spread across groupsInterventions spread across groups –2 Control, 2M, 2W, 2F, 1MW, 1MF, 1WF, 1WMF Tutor training sessions and deliveryTutor training sessions and delivery –1 for Wiki – used from Wk 2 –4 for Mindsets – delivered in Wks 2-5 –no training for F – sheet given in Wks 3, 5, 7, 9 MeasuresMeasures –Wk 1 and Wk 7 measures of mindset, self-efficacy, hope, +/- affect –Class tests and lab exam –Self-reported measure of previous experience

6. Impact of Intervention on Mindset

7. Impact of Mindset/Feedback on Class Test 1 score

8. Impact of Mindset/Feedback on final Degree Exam Effect Size amounts to 0.8 of a grade

9. LTC Seminar 21-1-09 What to make of it… W only applicable to early stagesW only applicable to early stages –therefore cannot say much about result All students are receiving the relatively high quality feedbackAll students are receiving the relatively high quality feedback Significant result only comes with both M and FSignificant result only comes with both M and F –tutors taught the general mindset theory –the feedback was very specific to their learning experience –the feedback message reminds them of the value of feedback –students take the feedback seriously, acting upon it, and so achieve higher grades

10. LTC Seminar 21-1-09 Sheet is directive and informative… … right at the point of receipt of the feedback… right at the point of receipt of the feedback We state the interpretation we think is most importantWe state the interpretation we think is most important –Learning to program takes time. You'll get there with sufficient effort. It's worth making use of this feedback. [and we almost hide the 'mark'] We give appropriate actionsWe give appropriate actions –"Look at items…" –"Look at items…" –"F/b points – mostly worth reading, even if not identified for you" …and the feedback is plentiful…and the feedback is plentiful –far more than any tutor could hand write –Whole sentences, real explanations, with references Feedback sheets become a potentially major resourceFeedback sheets become a potentially major resource –Not cheap to develop, but speeds up tutor marking time

11. LTC Seminar 21-1-09 Web questionnaire – 35 rspns 70% found the sheets (v.) helpful70% found the sheets (v.) helpful 50% motivated to work harder50% motivated to work harder 55% find sheets helped later55% find sheets helped later CommentsComments –Although the program may have worked, the sheet provided comments on how you could have improved the program… –… gave me the confidence and then the joy to continue to work hard… –I was getting problems outlined - I started working harder on next programs, so I could sort these problems before submission. I have started meeting deadlines much more efficiently. –Plenty of good common sense pointers are even now continuing to be helpful. Especially on structure. –Feedback in this course is better than that in other courses. =].

12. LTC Seminar 21-1-09 Follow-on This sessionThis session –told the tutors about the result –gave them the information about Mindsets –Threaded the Mindset story into several lectures including a session entirely devoted to it after the first class testincluding a session entirely devoted to it after the first class test –Rubric on feedback sheets for all students Effects uncertain yetEffects uncertain yet –January test results not available Potentially a mistake not to get the tutors to do the trainingPotentially a mistake not to get the tutors to do the training –area for future study

13. LTC Seminar 21-1-09 Conclusions Students amenable to subtle messages when used within an appropriate contextStudents amenable to subtle messages when used within an appropriate context We need to promote our attitude towards learningWe need to promote our attitude towards learning –how learning works best –the values we place on feedback –the actions we expect them to take We need to explore further…We need to explore further… –the attitudes of the entire teaching team