Perceptions of feedback and engagement with feedback among undergraduates: an educational identities approach

Abstract

Engaging with feedback has been widely shown to support learning, but levels of engagement with feedback among individual students varies considerably. This study assessed educational identities to understand this variation, while also seeking to confirm the distinct but related role of perceptions of feedback. Data from 170 undergraduate students in the UK completed an online questionnaire to assess their perceptions of feedback, engagement with feedback, learner identity, consumer identity, and discipline identity, as well as provide age, gender, ethnicity, and level of study. As predicted, perceptions of feedback was significantly positively correlated with engagement with feedback, and learner identity and discipline identity were also significantly positively correlated with perceptions of feedback and engagement with feedback. Data were subsequently analysed to test various hypotheses about the interactions among these variables. Critically, we found support for the proposed mediating effect of perceptions of feedback on the relation between learner identity and engagement with feedback, however, consumer identity did not moderate this effect. These findings suggest that students who demonstrate the greatest engagement with feedback are those with a strong learner identity, thus, interventions to promote learner identity may increase students’ engagement with feedback and ultimately improve their outcomes.