Experiment 1 Results
Students in the delayed feedback condition performed better on the exams than students in the “immediate” feedback condition. The difference was about 8%, or the difference between earning a B and an A. However, students’ perceptions did not match the exam results. The students that received the delayed feedback really didn’t like it. They either thought it did not help them learn or even thought it hurt their learning. Students who got the more immediate feedback liked it and thought it helped them.
Experiment 2
Mullet and colleagues conducted a second experiment to replicate the results from the first and made a couple of small changes. Experiment 2 was largely the same as Experiment 1, but there were two important changes. The first was that they manipulated the timing of feedback within students. On some homework assignments, students received “immediate” feedback (i.e., it was available immediately after the due date), and on others, they received delayed feedback. Manipulating the timing of feedback in this way allowed the researchers to see how students compare the two types of feedback after they have experienced both. Perhaps after experiencing both types of feedback, they will realize that the delayed feedback was actually better for their learning and subsequent exam performance.
The second change was that they manipulated the feedback requirement. Some students were required to review the feedback for course credit, like in Experiment 1. However, for some students, viewing the feedback was optional.
Experiment 2 Results
The results from Experiment 2 were very similar to those from Experiment 1, even with some methodological changes! Here is a summary of their results:
Delayed feedback led to better exam performance than “immediate” feedback. This was true even when the feedback was optional!
Overall, requiring feedback led to better exam performance than making the feedback optional.
Students still report that the immediate feedback feels like it is helping them whereas the delayed feedback feels like it is hurting them, even when they experience both in the course. In fact, 79% said they benefited a lot more from the immediate feedback.
This paper joins a number of other papers showing delayed feedback is beneficial. The finding is good news, practically, for teachers. Relax! There’s no need to rush to get feedback to students, and they will benefit from the extra time it often takes. However, you may have to convince your students that this is benefitting them. I will say, as a teacher, learning scientist, and someone who is always trying to learn myself, it is sort of annoying that our intuitions about what helps us learn are so often wrong!
References
(1) Mullet, H. G., Butler, A. C., Berdin, B., von Borries, R., & Marsh, E. J. (2014). Delaying feedback promotes transfer of knowledge despite student preferences to receive feedback immediately. Journal of Applied Research in Memory and Cognition, 3, 222-229. http://doi.org/10.1016.j.jarmac.2014.05.001
