Importance of Goal and Feedback Orientation in Determining Feedback Effectiveness

Abstract: In this study, we examine two student characteristics (goal orientation and feedback orientation) that might predispose students to use and benefit from two different types of feedback. Students receiving future-oriented feedback exhibited significantly greater improvement in their quiz scores compared to students receiving past-oriented feedback, although the degree was a function of both student goal and feedback orientation. Specifically, high learning-goal-orientation students had greater performance improvement when they received future-oriented feedback while high performance-prove-orientation students had greater improvement when they received past-oriented feedback. Students with a high active-feedback-seeking orientation improved more than other students, and students with a high passive-feedback-seeking orientation improved less when they received future-oriented feedback.