Online assessment feedback: competitive, individualistic, or ... preferred form!

This study investigated the "the effects of receiving the preferred form of online assessment feedback upon middle school mathematics students." Students completed a Web-based quadratics equations learning module followed by a randomly generated online quiz that they could practise as often as they liked. The effect of receiving their preferred form of feedback (either competitive or individualistic) upon their academic performance and attitude indicators was measured.

The three key findings of the study were that:

i) The facility to practice led to a significant improvement in test scores

ii) Providing students with their non-preferred form of feedback had a significantly negative impact on their mathematics ability self-rating

iii) Boys appeared more likely to adopt a fixated approach to this "power based" repetitive practise task.

The differential effect of competitive versus individualistic feedback was also analysed.

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INTRODUCTION

The purpose of this study was to investigate "the effects of receiving the preferred form of online assessment feedback upon middle school mathematics students."

Specifically, high school students who completed an online mathematics learning module and quiz system were first asked whether they preferred to receive performance feedback that compares them to other people (norm-referenced or "competitive") or to their own past attempts (self-referenced or "individualistic"). Students then worked through an online quadratic equations learning module followed by a randomly generated and timed online quiz that they could practise as often as they chose (formative assessment). At each attempt all students received corrective and performance feedback, with approximately one- third of the students receiving their preferred form of comparative feedback (either competitive or individualistic), one-third receiving their non-preferred form of comparative feedback, and one-third receiving no comparative feedback.

Approximately one week later students completed a final quiz (summative assessment) and completed a post-survey. The pre-survey, quiz, and post-survey data were then analysed to gauge the effect of receiving preferred versus non-preferred and competitive versus individualistic forms of online feedback upon students' performance and attitude. The data were also analysed ex post-facto to detect other educationally pertinent results, such as any differences in gender effects of the experiment.

This research was conducted online using a site specifically constructed for this experiment. To gain an appreciation for the instruments and processes utilised in this project (pre-survey, quadratic equations learning module, randomly generated quizzes, and post-survey) please visit the site at http://n2.mpce.mq.edu.au/~mbower/qaf/ (1)

Background

Providing learners with online performance feedback is becoming more prevalent in educational contexts worldwide. However, concerns arise over the form of that feedback (either self-referenced, norm-referenced, or criterion-referenced) and the effects it has upon students' performance, attribution of academic success, and self-esteem. The research conducted in this experiment attempted to determine the effect of receiving differential forms of feedback upon learner academic performance and attitude.

There has been some encouraging research to date regarding the effect of Web-based feedback upon students. Sonak, Suen, Zappe, and Hunter (2002) found a direct positive relationship between the amount of time that junior high school students used an online performance feedback system and their academic performance (p. 15). In another experiment involving 176 first year psychology undergraduates, Cassady, Budenz-Anders, Pavlechko, and Mock (2001) found significant differences in performance in the final examination between students who did and did not take advantage of online formative assessment quizzes (p. 6).

One of the key advantages of online assessment is its capacity to provide retesting opportunities to promote mastery learning. In their investigation into the effect of criterion-referenced grading and retesting opportunities on the performance (and motivation) of first year psychology students Covington and Omelich (1984) found that "performance superiority of mastery instruction occurred primarily because of the retest option, with enhanced motivation due to both retesting opportunities and criterion-referenced standards" (p. 1038).

However there has always been contention regarding the type of feedback that students should receive. Historically research into the effect of competitive (norm-referenced) goal structures versus individualistic (self-referenced) goal structures upon academic performance has not been conclusive. Lewis and Cooney (1986, p. 3) report:

      In a meta-analysis of 122 studies of the effects of goal
      structures on achievement, Johnson, Maruyama, Johnson, Nelson, and
      Skor (1981) reached three broad conclusions: ... (3) that
      competitive and individualistic structures do not have significant
      differential effects on achievement. Other reviewers have reached
      different conclusions (see Hayes, 1976; Slavin, 1977). While most
      reviewers conclude that competitive and individualistic goal
      structures do not produce differential effects on achievement.

Since then resolution has not been reached. Some researchers have argued in favour of a competitive approach to feedback. Becker and Rosen (1992) employed cost/benefit stochastic modelling to advocate "competition among students does stimulate academic effort provided students are appropriately rewarded for achievement" (p. 108), discounting competency-based grading as a less effective assessment approach to promote academic performance. Lam, Yim, Law, and Rebecca (2001) found that a competitive environment during a 2-hour Chinese typewriting course lead to significantly better performance in easy tasks compared to students in a non-competitive environment, supporting the idea that competitive goal structures can enhance academic achievement.

In contrast to this, other evidence has suggested that competition leads to negative student outcomes, as compared to an individualistic focus. In the same typewriting course Lam et al. (2001) noted that students placed in a competitive environment were "more likely to sacrifice learning opportunities for better performance," (p. 1). They point out that in competition "students seek positive judgement of competence by outperforming others. To achieve this end, they may avoid challenge when they are not sure of winning," (p. 18).

There have been notable differences in attribution of success under competitive versus individualistic goal structures. Lewis and Cooney (1986, p. 4) commented that "competitive goal structures seem to foster ability attributions for success and failure. In contrast individualistic reward structures are more likely to result in effort attributions."

The problem with fostering ability attributions under competitive goal structures is that it can have an impact on student self-concept. Covington and Omelich (1984, p. 1039) cite Feldman and Ruble, Levine, and Veroff to argue that "competition raises student's doubts about their ability by directing their attention to social comparison information." This could potentially have long term negative effects on the learner, particularly less able students. Nicholls, cited in Lewis and Cooney (1986, p. 4) suggests that "social comparison for low achievers may be predicted to lead to the maintenance of a low self-concept of ability and, thus, low motivation."

The issue regarding which form of goal structure (feedback) should be implemented revolves around the fact that different forms of feedback are appropriate for different students. For instance, Covington and Omelich (1984, p. 1040) cite researchers, Bloom, and Born and Zlutnick, who conclude that "slow learners will profit more from a task-oriented structure than will fast learners." This raises the question as to who should decide which form of feedback students should receive, and on what basis.

ABOUT THIS STUDY

The research conducted in this study investigated whether allowing students to choose their preferred form of feedback significantly affected academic performance or student attitudes towards learning.

The experimental design utilised in this project has drawn from Lewis and Cooney's (1986) study, to act as a means for comparison and a point of contrast. In 1986, Lewis and Cooney studied 52 fourth and fifth grade students who were each randomly assigned to three groups: competitive feedback, individualistic feedback, and no feedback (control). Students received differential performance feedback regarding their accomplishment in two 40-minute computer-assisted mathematics sessions per week over a 6-week period based on these groupings.

Lewis and Cooney (1986) note that the major finding of their research was that the feedback conditions were found to differentially affect male and female performance, despite the fact that there was no significant effect of feedback method upon attribution of success to effort or academic locus of control for either males or females (contrary to the previous research they cite and their own expectations). In their study not only did males exhibit a significantly higher rate of progress than females within the competitive feedback group, but females within the individualistic feedback group exhibited a significantly higher rate of progress than females in the competitive feedback group and control group males (p 15). This is shown in Figure 1.

[FIGURE 1 OMITTED]

A key difference between Lewis and Cooney's study and the experiment performed in this study was that students in the 1986 experiment had performance and attitudinal indicators broken down by gender rather than feedback preference. This research project attempted to discover whether grouping students by their self-professed preferred form of feedback rather than grouping all males in the competitive feedback group and all females in the individualistic feedback group would reveal a stronger relationship to the performance and attitudinal measures.

Offering students their preferred form of feedback regardless of gender was conjectured to be a more successful approach to improving academic performance, student confidence, and learning outcomes generally as opposed to expecting that all males would respond better to competitive feedback and all females would respond better to individualistic feedback. This tailored approach is particularly relevant in today's online environment where providing all students with their preferred form of feedback is entirely possible.

If different feedback conditions do have significant effects upon academic performance and student attitudes towards learning then teachers will need to shift their emphasis from providing students with a fixed form of feedback to guiding students towards the form of feedback that is best for their personal growth. Educators can also focus upon teaching students about the different performance and attitudinal effects of competitive versus individualistic goal structures that have been widely documented. Ames & Ames, Covington, and Nicholls, are cited in Omelich and Covington (1984, p. 1047). In this way students can become better managers of their own learning.

In summary, the online medium can be utilised to provide students with choice over the type of feedback they receive, which may in turn affect their academic performance and learning attitude. By surveying students and monitoring them during an online learning module and repeated practice quiz, this experiment attempted to detect such effects.

METHOD

Instrument Design and Construction

The "Quadratics-Are-Fun" Web site (http://n2.mpce.mq.edu.au/~mbower/qaf/) was constructed specifically for this experiment to provide data on performance and attitudinal effects of differential assessment feedback conditions.

The task of solving quadratic equations was chosen for the purposes of this exercise because it required some personal construction rather than mere recollection of facts and thus represented an activity that students could practise repeatedly without feeling as though they were covering exactly the same content. A quadratic equations quiz allows questions of similar form but different values to be constructed, thus providing some form of consistency between the difficulty level of different quiz attempts.

The module was designed to be as autonomous as possible in an attempt to reduce differences between the learning experiences of different classes. Students received preliminary instructions on the main page of the site that contained all necessary information to allow students to execute the module (see Figure 2.)

[FIGURE 2 OMITTED]

[FIGURE 3 OMITTED]

Before students commenced the experiment their details were collected online, including information such as their, age, gender, school, grade, and state/province (see Figure 3). Also, students completed a pre-survey (see Figure 4) to ascertain their disposition towards online learning and mathematics.

[FIGURE 4 OMITTED]

The pre-survey consisted of 10 questions:

1. Do you have Internet access at home? (Yes/No response)

2. How many hours per week (on average) do you use the Internet? (text-field response box requiring a positive number)

3. How much do you enjoy learning from the Internet? (eleven point Likert scale)

4. How would you rate your mathematical ability? (eleven point Likert scale)

5. How would you rate the effort you make in mathematics? (eleven point Likert scale)

6. How much do you think ability contributes to success in mathematics? (eleven point Likert scale)

7. How much do you think effort contributes to success in mathematics? (eleven point Likert scale)

8. Have you ever factorised quadratic expressions before? Quadratic expressions are ones like [x.sup.2] - 6x + 8.

9. Have you ever solved quadratic equations before? Quadratic equations are ones like [x.sup.2] + 2x - 15 = 0.

10. Please consider the following statements carefully and then select one of the two options.

For my performance in mathematics skills tasks....

I prefer to receive feedback about how I compare to other students

OR

I prefer to receive feedback about how I compare to my own past performances.

The final question was used to allocate students to experimental groups.

After submitting their details and their pre-survey responses, students commenced the learning module, which consisted of a 10-page instructional sequence outlining a procedure for solving monic quadratic equations. Randomised interactive online guided practise was provided on several of the pages. (Figure 5 shows an example of the type of interface employed.)

Upon completion of the learning module students were prompted to attempt the practice quiz. All students received an identical interface to the online quiz, so as not to bias performance between feedback groupings (see Figure 6).

[FIGURE 5 OMITTED]

[FIGURE 6 OMITTED]

The site was designed to randomly allocate students to either of the competitive, individualistic, or neutral feedback groups in a pinwheel fashion based on their feedback preference and order of account creation. For instance, three consecutive students who selected a "competitive" feedback preference would be allocated to the competitive, individualistic, and neutral feedback groups respectively. This approach ensured the most even distribution of feedback preference types to feedback allocation groups, which in turn provided the best basis for statistical analysis in later phases of the experiment.

* Students who were allocated to the competitive feedback group received the feedback mentioned above as well as: i) their performance ranking compared to their peers, ii) the best performance in the group, and iii) the average performance of the group (see Figure 7). Performance comparisons in the competitive feedback group only related to other students within the competitive feedback group, not the entire student cohort. A rank order comparison was chosen in order to stimulate social comparison within the competitive feedback group without the necessity of direct comparison to the performance of individual subjects. The ranking was based on a descending order sort by score followed by an ascending order sort by time.

* Students in the individualistic fedback group received feedback information in a similar format to that of the competitive feedback group--except that their test score ranking, average score, and best score were presented in relation to their own past performance rather than to the performance of their peers (see Figure 8). This also corresponds to the experimental approach adopted in Lewis and Cooney's experiment (1986, p 9).

* Finally the neutral (control) group was not exposed to any comparative feedback although students still received their test score and the time taken to complete the quiz.

[FIGURE 7 OMITTED]

[FIGURE 8 OMITTED]

One week after students first registered, they were required to return to the "final quiz" section of the site (http://n2.mpce.mq.edu.au/~mbower/qaf/final/). This section was used to collect information about how much each student improved over a time period of approximately a week and to direct the student to the post-survey.

The final quiz page was constructed with an identical interface (apart from the heading) to the practice quiz so as not to confuse or distract students. Upon submitting their final quiz attempt students were given the same form of performance feedback that they had received during the practice quizzes (refer to Figure 9).

[FIGURE 9 OMITTED]

After they had reviewed their performance in the final quiz, students were directed to a post-survey consisting of the following 11 questions:

1. How much do you now enjoy learning from the Internet? (eleven point Likert scale)

2. How do you rate your mathematical ability? (eleven point Likert scale)

3. How do you rate the effort that you make in mathematics? (eleven point Likert scale)

4. How much do you think ability contributes to success in mathematics? (eleven point Likert scale)

5. How much do you think effort contributes to success in mathematics? (eleven point Likert scale)

6. How much did you enjoy studying this unit compared to the usual way that you learn mathematics? (eleven point Likert scale)

7. How effective do you think this unit was compared to the usual way that you learn mathematics? (eleven point Likert scale)

8. In the last survey, you were asked to choose whether you prefer to receive feedback about how you compare to other students OR how you compare to your own past experiences. Which method did you chose and why? (open ended)

9. What were the best things about the online quadratics module? (open ended)

10. What were the worst things about the online quadratics module? (open ended)

11. Any other comments (open ended).

Items one through to five replicated questions in the pre-survey, thus allowing the effect of the module and quiz upon these indicators to be measured.

Submitting the post-survey was the final task required of the participant in this experiment.

DATA COLLECTION PROCESS

The data collection phase of this experiment took place over the period of 11th August to 26th September 2003.

The module was constructed in HTML with all randomised components constructed using JavaScript. A MySQL database was used to store and manage all user account, survey, and quiz response data; the PHP scripting language was used to process and distribute all information submitted to the site. (2)

For each student the experiment consisted of three temporal phases:

1. An initial lesson during regular class time where students submitted their details and pre-survey responses, attempted the learning module, and then progressed to the practice quiz.

2. A period of approximately 1 week where students could practise the quiz as often as they liked from home or at school.

3. A final lesson during regular class time where students attempted the final quiz and completed the post-survey.

A support document providing instructions for conducting the experiment was issued to all participant schools in an attempt to standardise the data collection process. This document also provided advice for implementation and emphasised the importance of encouraging students to practise at home (3) or at school.

For the classroom lessons students accessed the module via the school computer laboratories or their laptops. The role of the teacher was limited to classroom management and, where necessary, responses to student questions. Also, the experimental design permitted students to help one another through the learning and guided practice phase of the module. This was not deemed to significantly bias results since all three experimental groups were present within each class.

RESULTS

A total of 806 students (F=361, M=445) across nine schools registered on the "Quadratics-Are-Fun" site. Student ages ranged from grades 8 to 11 (with a mean age of 13.7 years); they were from nine different schools (4) which included a mix of coeducational and single sex, public and private schools.

The data were trimmed to only include participants who:

* Completed all (non-descriptive) pre and post survey questions

* Responded that they were in grade 8 to 11

* Had at least one attempt at the practice quiz

* Completed the final quiz

* Had no practice quiz or final quiz attempts that took less than 13 seconds (this was seen as a non-serious attempt)

* Attempted the final quiz more than 24 hours after their first attempt at the practice quiz.

This resulted in a trimmed sample of 191 (F=87, M=104) participants who in total made 1609 attempts at the quiz.

Of these 191 students, 66% responded that they preferred to receive feedback that compared them to other people (competitive preference) and 34% selected a preference for feedback that compared them to their own past performances (individualistic preference). These proportions were closely preserved within gender groups (see Table 1).

The numbers in each feedback preference/allocation cell for the trimmed dataset, after students had been randomly placed in their feedback allocation groups, is provided in Table 2.

The experiment produced significant results across three key measures:

1. Test score

2. Mathematics ability self-rating, and

3. Number of practice attempts.

Note that for all statistics that follow below, all scores are based on 10 and all t-tests are two-sided.

Key Finding 1: The facility to practise lead to a significant improvement in test score.

The mean quiz score for the entire dataset rose significantly as a result of the ability to practice; it rose from an initial score of 3.75 out of 10 to a final quiz score of 5.81 out of 10 (Z = 7.631, p<0.0000) (5). See Figure 10 for a graph representing the mean improvement by each feedback allocation group.

All combinations of feedback preference and feedback allocation had a significant increase in mean quiz score except the students who initially indicated a preference for competitive feedback and were allocated to the competitive feedback group. When the latter group was tested for a significant difference between initial test score and final quiz score, the resulting parameters were t = 1.196, p = 0.238 (df = 44).

Also, there was a significant difference between the increase in test score performance between the competitive preference and individualistic preference students who were placed in the competitive feedback group (t = 2.198, df = 65, p = 0.032). Students placed in the competitive feedback group who indicated that they preferred individualistic feedback improved by a mean of 3.09 marks compared to a mean improvement of only 0.76 marks by competitive preference students.

This result is contrary to the expectations of this experiment--it had been conjectured that receiving the preferred form of feedback would lead to significantly greater gains in performance than receiving the non-preferred form of feedback.

A possible explanation for this could lie in the motivation of competitive preference students to be the best. In this experiment the student who scored the best performance on the practice quiz (6) achieved the result quite early in the data collection process. It may have been possible that the presence of this "unbeatable winner" discouraged the competitive preference students in the competitive group more than the individualistic preference students. This effect would need to be substantiated with further research.

Key Finding 2: Providing students with their non-preferred form of feedback had a negative impact on their mathematics ability self-rating.

Receiving the non-preferred form of feedback in this experiment led to a significant decrease in students' mean self ability rating (t = -2.327, df = 65, p = 0.023) from the pre-survey to the post-survey. This can be seen in Figure 11 by noting that individualistic preference students allocated to the competitive feedback group and competitive preference students allocated to the individualistic feedback group both had decreases in their mathematics ability self-rating score out of ten.

There are three other effects contained within this change in mathematical ability self-rating measure.

Firstly, being allocated to the competitive feedback group resulted in a significant decrease in mathematical ability self-rating by 0.8 of a mark as a result of the experiment (t = -2.716, df = 66, p = 0.008). This does not speak well for providing students with competitive tasks online.

Secondly, for students who had indicated an individualistic preference, those allocated to the competitive feedback group had a mean change in mathematical ability self-rating as a result of the module that was significantly less than those allocated to either the individualistic feedback group (t = 2.309, df = 41, p = 0.026) or the neutral feedback group (t = 2.109, df = 44, p = 0.041).

That is, for those whose preference was for individualistic feedback but were placed in the competitive feedback group, the quiz had a more negative impact on their impressions of their own ability than for those allocated to the individualistic or neutral feedback groups. If this result was extrapolated to other content areas and tasks, placing students with an individualistic feedback preference in a competitive feedback environment may have a significantly detrimental effect on their self perceptions of ability in comparison to placing them in an individualistic feedback or neutral feedback environment.

Thirdly, the module had a significantly negative impact on the mean mathematics ability self-rating score of students who indicated a competitive preference (t = -2.695, df = 125, p = 0.008), irrespective of the feedback group to which they were allocated. This is depicted in Figure 11 by all three competitive preference columns having negative values.

Based on the scores achieved by students, students' open-ended comments, and teacher observations, many participants found the content of the module difficult. It may be possible that presenting competitive (success or ego-driven) students with a difficult task that they do not master may have a more negative impact on their ability self concept than on individualistic preference students. Also, the mean improvement in quiz score of students who indicated a competitive preference was less than individualistic preference students for all feedback groups; this may have impacted their mathematical ability self-rating.

Note that the module did not have a negative impact across any feedback preference or feedback allocation groupings for any other of the attitudinal variables (effort in mathematics self-rating, ability for success rating, effort for success rating, enjoyment of Internet learning rating).

Key Finding 3: Possible gender differences in the number of practice attempts (7)

Of the top 20 most practising students, 19 were male; this is significantly different from the population proportion in the trimmed dataset ([chi square] = 12.334, df = 1, p < 0.001) (8). The proportion of competitive preference to individualistic preference was roughly preserved within this "top 20" group (competitive preference = 15, individualistic preference = 5). Also, these "top 20" students were fairly evenly distributed across feedback allocation groups (competitive feedback = 8, individualistic feedback = 7, neutral feedback = 5). That is to say, it does not appear that the feedback preference or allocated feedback group lead to students practising more often.

The number of practice attempts by the members of the top 20 most practising students were:

81, 63, 41, 34, 34, 30, 30, 28, 27, 24, 23, 21, 21, 21, 19 (F), 19, 18, 18, 18, 18.

It would appear that this fixated approach towards the practice quiz extended beyond any effect that may have been caused by the different school attribute; (5) however this would need to be confirmed by further sampling.

If this fixated approach to practising the quiz does tend to exist predominantly in male students, then it has educational ramifications; it may allow educators to structure tasks in a way that motivates students to practise.

The mean number of attempts on the practice quiz for males was more than double that of females ([[mu].sub.m] = 7.94 versus [[mu].sub.f] = 3.67); this is a significant difference (t = 3.755, df = 189, p = 0.0002). The extreme number of attempts by the upper decile of most practising students (all but one of which was male) was a major contributor to this difference. If these top 20 most practising students were excluded from the dataset then the p-value for the difference of the means became 0.035, which could lead to the result being more easily disregarded on the basis of so many participants being drawn from single gender schools (9).

Female students had significantly higher pre-survey ratings for both attribution of success in mathematics to ability (t = 2.086, df = 189, p = 0.038) and attribution of success to effort (t = 2.280, df = 189, p = 0.024) than male students. As with the other gender results this observation would need to be substantiated by sampling from within co-educational schools to ensure that the school from which participants were drawn did not interfere with measures on these variables.

Other Observations

There were no significant differences between the competitive preference and individualistic preference groups in the pre-survey responses or initial quiz performance.

Also, there were no significant differences between females and males in the pre-survey responses or initial quiz performance, apart from the higher female attribution of success to ability and effort means outlined in the Key Finding 3 section. Nor did the module manifest any gender differences in the change in attitudinal variables (10) or quiz improvement variables. One way that this can be interpreted is that the extra practice male students performed did not lead to any significant gains in test score.

FURTHER DISCUSSION

When regression analysis was performed on the number of quiz attempts versus the improvement in test score from the first attempt to the final quiz, a highly significant relationship was detected (t = 2.745, df = 190, p = 0.006628). However a regression line with [beta] = 0.07 raises questions as to whether the extra effort of practising was worth the trouble (11). When the dataset was trimmed to only include those who practised five or less times a value of [beta] = 0.52 was obtained, which makes practising seem a much more worthwhile pursuit in terms of improving mathematics performance on this quadratics equations task. This draws attention to the fact that the ceiling for improvement per practise attempt reduces as the number of attempts increases.

Time taken did not significantly change between the first quiz attempt and the final quiz attempt. It is possible that some students may have spent more time on the quiz as their ability to solving quadratics equations improved and they could answer more questions. However, the time taken on a quiz was considered highly dependent on the student's environment and for this reason was judged as an unreliable measure in this experiment.

If male students do have more of an inclination towards fixated practice on skills tasks similar to the one presented in this experiment then further research needs to be performed to ascertain the reasons. This tendency could be related to the gender differences in preference for computer games. It may be possible that boys prefer tasks that involve power (12) in some way.

If the latter is true then it is interesting to observe that it was the temporal dimension to the performance measure, not necessarily the attraction of outperforming other people that provided the power dimension to the activity. There is an implicit assumption among some educators that boys are more disposed to "beating" other students, but perhaps they are searching for a form of empowerment, not necessarily at the expense of others. It may be the case that boys are just as happy to compete against themselves (e.g., using time as a measure). In the regular classroom it is difficult to manage timed feedback; in addition, such activities always draw attention to a "winner." Computers offer a private and easily implemented way to provide power-based (timed) performance measures that could be used to facilitate improved learning outcomes for some boys (or to be less sexist, students who have a preference for such feedback).

This fixated approach towards practice may not be the best use of these students' time in terms of improving their mathematical skills. However, educators should acknowledge that such students must feel as if they are benefiting in some way from the task. For instance, an adolescent who is finding it difficult to obtain positive identity in other arenas may benefit greatly from a task where he/she can continually improve and master a skill, all the while receiving what the student regards to be a form of positive feedback, monitoring, and attention. This could relate to reasons that boys have a greater tendency to play computer games for hours upon hour. Perhaps there is an innate motivation for young males to participate in activities that allow them to feel like they are developing their speed, strength, and power, which could be leveraged to provide approaches to learning that boys will find more engaging. Further research into this area would be required to substantiate any of these conjectures.

A possible limitation of this experiment is the weak link between the criteria used to classify students as either competitive or individualistic feedback preference and their actual preference. Students may not fully understand the question or consider their response deeply enough. Care was taken to highlight the importance of this question in the pre-survey by presenting it in a different colour (red) than all other questions and by asking students to "please consider the following question carefully," but more extensive questioning or greater explanation may have lead to more accurate classification. There is also the possibility that students answered this question according to their experiences with face-to-face learning and that their preferences for online feedback may be different.

Another possible limitation of this study was the duration of the differential feedback conditions and the extent to which each student was subject to these conditions. A more extensive exposure to the feedback conditions may have detected significant differences between receiving the preferred and non-preferred form of feedback that this experiment did not.

The results uncovered by this project should not be taken out of the context of the task. Solving quadratic equations is a skill-based task that is suited to repeated, timed practice. Effects of receiving preferred or nonpreferred, competitive or individualistic feedback for higher order reflective tasks could obviously be entirely different.

Apart from the areas already mentioned in this report, further research into the effect of allowing students choice over other forms of content could uncover valuable results from both a sociological and educational point of view. For instance, the level of technical language, speed of presentation, diagrammatic emphasis, motivational support, and level of higher intensity feedback (such as graphical feedback or pop-up congratulatory windows with sound) are all potentially adaptable to student preferences. Additional research into these areas could identify generic approaches to online content provision that lead to significant improvements in educational outcomes.

CONCLUSION

The online medium allows educators to tailor feedback systems to the preferences of learners. In the case of this quadratic equations learning module, providing students with their non-preferred form of feedback system had a significantly detrimental impact upon their mathematical ability self-rating. Teachers need to be aware that providing students with their non-preferred form of feedback can have this negative impact, and that taking advantage of the online medium to provide students with their preferred form of feedback can improve educational outcomes.

Using the online medium to provide students with a repeated practice facility led to a significant improvement in quiz scores of over two marks out of ten. Once again, it is important that educators are aware that gains in academic performance can be achieved simply by offering students this type of service.

However, teachers need to take responsibility in educating students about the possible implications of different types of feedback structures and types of feedback preferences. In this experiment the students who indicated a preference for competition ended up having a significantly lower mathematics ability self-rating as a result of the module whereas the individualistic preference students did not. Being allocated to the competitive feedback group led to a significantly lower mathematics ability self-rating independent of feedback preference. Students with a competitive feedback preference who were placed in the competitive feedback group demonstrated no significant improvement in test score. This sort of information may lead students to reflect upon their preferences and question their efficacy.

It is possible that providing some students (particularly some boys) with a power-based task involving speed and accuracy may motivate them to practice. However, it is important that teachers consider this information in the broader context of the student's welfare, helping their pupils become aware that beyond a certain point the time spent practising a task may not produce as much improvement in a subject as moving onto the next activity.

The automated and differentiated services that online education can provide will change the role of the teacher in the future. No longer will teachers be sole providers of content and feedback. With further research into the effects of different Web-based educational systems, teachers can make informed decisions about the best approaches to utilise with their students and more confidently engage in the task of helping students understand the implications of these different systems upon their learning.

Table 1 Feedback Preferences of Participants

                             Gender
Feedback Preference  Female  Male    Total

Competitive          58       68     126
Individualistic      26       39      65
Total                84      107     191

Table 2 Participants in Each Feedback Preference/allocation Cell

                        Allocated Feedback Group
Feedback Preference  Competitive  Individual  Neutral  Total

Competitive          45           44          37       126
Individualistic      22           19          24        65
Total                67           63          61       191

Average Improvement From First Quiz attempt to Final Quiz

                                    Average Improvement
                            Competitive             Individualistic
Allocated Feedback Group    Preference              Preference

Competitive                 0.76                    3.09
Individualistic             2.25                    2.68
Neutral                     2.27                    2.50

Figure 10. Average Improvement From First Quiz Attempt to Final Quiz

Note: Table made from bar graph.

Change in Mathematics Ability Self Rating Score /10

                                         Change
                          Competitive             Individualistic
Allocated Feedback Group  Preference              Preference

Competitive               -0.80                   -0.88
Individualistic           -0.41                    0.47
Neutral                   -0.35                    0.38

Figure 11. Change in Mathematics Ability Self Rating Score /10

Note: Table made from bar graph.

Acknowledgments

This project was conducted in conjunction with the University of Southern Queensland and the Macquarie ICT Innovations Centre.

The success of this project has been the result of widespread assistance and support. Thanks to the following people for the invaluable time and effort that they have contributed.

Assoc. Professor Peter Albion, University of Southern Queensland

Professor Mike Johnson, Director (Macquarie University), Macquarie ICT Innovations Centre

Jennifer Fergusson, Director (DET), Macquarie ICT Innovations Centre

Peter Gould, Chief Education Officer--Mathematics, NSW Dept of Education & Training

Coordinating Teachers for the nine participant schools:

Dr Joan Lawson, Normanhurst Boys' High School 

Sarah Hamper, Tara Anglican School

Maureen Breen, MLC School 

Marie Lebens, Turramurra High School 

Michael Fuller, Killara High School 

Bruno Pileggi, Mazenod College 

John Tonkin, Marsden College

Ted McGilvray, Ryde Secondary College 

Andrew Lloyd, Centralian College 

Thanks to the Macquarie ICT Innovations Centre for organising a Web/MySQL/PHP server upon which to host the site.

Also, many thanks to all other teachers who gave up their precious classroom time to assist with this project. Their support has made this research possible.

Notes

(1) Anyone may logon and work through the site. However if you are an educator who is creating a new user account please add the prefix 'test' to your username. For instance, testMatt. That way your quiz results won't affect the feedback that students receive. Alternately, the accounts 'testuserC', 'testuserI' and 'testuserN' have been set up to show you the different type of feedback the Competitive, Individualistic and Neither (control) groups. The password is the same as the username for these three accounts.

(2) The complete zip file of the "Quadratics-are-fun" site can be downloaded from http://n2.mpce.mq.edu.au/~mbower/qaf/qaf.zip and is free for educational use. Please note the instructions and disclaimers in the readme. txt file in the root directory of the site.

(3) Of the 191 students in the final trimmed dataset, 184 responded that they had Internet access at home.

(4) These schools were Centralian College, Killara High School, Marsden High School, Mazenod College, MLC School, Normanhurst Boys High School, Ryde Secondary College, Tara Anglican School, and Turrumurra High School.

(5) Note that the time taken to complete the quiz decreased from an average of 276 seconds to 270 seconds, a non-significant result (Z = -0.231, p = 0.817).

(6) The best performance on the quiz was a score of 10 out of 10 in 13 seconds. The student who achieved this result took 81 attempts at the quiz overall.

(7) When analysing the differential gender effect of this experiment the low level of coeducational school students in the trimmed dataset needs to be considered. Even though 260 coeducational school students registered on the site, only 19 met the trimming criteria. This tempers the extent to which conclusions can be drawn regarding gender differences due to possible interference by the school attribute of each observation.

(8) This result needs to be considered in light of the fact that most of the subjects in the trimmed dataset were from single gender schools.

(9) Another important consideration is that not every teacher would have placed the same amount of emphasis on the importance of the quiz or provided the same amount of time in class or between first and final quiz lessons, which may act to confound the number of attempts variable between genders. On this basis further research needs to be performed to substantiate the gender observations made in this experiment.

(10) The attitudinal variables were: ability in mathematics self-rating, effort in mathematics self-rating, ability for success rating, effort for success rating, enjoyment of internet learning rating.

(11) This result implies that the average improvement in test score was 0.07 for each practice attempt made on the quiz.

(12) "Power" refers to tasks that involve a temporal dimension, such as speed, not to tasks that involve beating other students.

References

Becker, W., & Rosen, S. (1992). The learning effect of assessment and evaluation in high school. Economics of Education Review, 11(2), 107-18.

Cassady, J., Budenz-Anders, J., Pavlechko, G., & Mock, W (2001, April). The effects of internet-based formative and summative assessment on test anxiety, perceptions of threat, and achievement. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association, Seattle, WA.

Covington, M., & Omelich, C. (1984). Task-oriented versus competitive learning structures: Motivational and performance consequences. Journal of Educational Psychology, 76(6), 1038-50.

Lam, S., Yim, P., Law, J., & Rebecca, W. (2001, August). The effects of classroom competition on achievement motivation. Paper presented at the annual conference of the American Psychological Association, San Francisco.

Lewis, M., & Cooney, J. (1986, April). Attributional and performance effects of competitive and individualistic feedback in computer assisted mathematics instruction. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association, San Francisco.

Sonak, B., Suen, H., Zappe, S., & Hunter, M. (2002, April). The efforts of a web-based academic record and feedback system on student achievement at the junior high school level. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association, New Orleans, LA.

MATT BOWER

Macquarie University

Australia

[e-mail]