Browse by author
Lookup NU author(s): Dr Samantha Shields
Full text for this publication is not currently held within this repository. Alternative links are provided below where available.
This paper explores the emotional responses that assignment feedback can provoke in first-year undergraduates. The literature on the link between emotions and learning is well established, but surprisingly research on the relationship between emotions and feedback is still relatively scarce. This article aims to make an additional contribution to this emerging field. Semi-structured interviews with 24 first-year undergraduate students from the Humanities and Social Sciences department in a post-1992 institution were conducted. The interview narratives identified how the emotional impact of feedback was related to: prior experiences of education, the significance participants attached to the feedback received on their first assignment and how their interpretations of feedback comments were linked to beliefs about themselves as learners. The implications of these experiences on student ‘belonging’ and learning are discussed. The underlying themes that emerged from the findings are the polarised emotions of anxiety and confidence. Based on the findings, the paper concludes by making recommendations for reconceptualising feedback on first-year assignments. It suggests that a holistic assessment approach, which incorporates timely feedback indicating if students are ‘on the right lines’ with low-stakes assignments, is a practice that may both reduce anxiety and increase confidence to support students.
Author(s): Shields S
Publication type: Article
Publication status: Published
Journal: Teaching in Higher Education
Year: 2015
Volume: 20
Issue: 6
Pages: 614-624
Print publication date: 02/07/2015
Online publication date: 02/07/2015
Acceptance date: 11/05/2015
ISSN (print): 1356-2517
ISSN (electronic): 1470-1294
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
URL: https://doi.org/10.1080/13562517.2015.1052786
DOI: 10.1080/13562517.2015.1052786
Altmetrics provided by Altmetric
