Grading as a Teaching and Feedback Mechanism: Modifying Students' Self-Perceptions of Performance

Abstract

The conception of the experiment described in this paper emanated from a concern that the examination process be a learning experience. Certainly, the preparation for the examination should be such; but beyond that, our concern is that post-examination feedback sessions be substantively productive events. It is our contention that students should be active participants in those sessions rather than passive listeners (or, worse yet, non-listeners) as the instructor reveals the "truth" in the form of answers to the questions from the last exam. Specifically, we want to induce students to actively think about the answers the instructor offers, and to compare these answers with those which they have earlier written. There are two critical ingredients prerequisite to successful accomplishment of this goal: one is cognitive-- understanding; the other is attitudinal--acceptance. The experiment was designed to address each.