Do feedback strategies improve students’ learning gain? Results of a randomized experiment using polling technology in physics classrooms

In this paper we study if feedback strategies during formative assessment with polling technology have an impact on learning gains. We conduct a randomized experiment in physics class in upper secondary education with the web-based polling system Socrative comparing three conditions. In the cooperative condition students receive a combination of peer discussion and teacher feedback, while in the individual condition they receive only teacher feedback. In the control condition students do not receive any feedback, from either teacher or peers. To measure what individuals learn from teacher feedback, whether or not combined with peer discussions, students in all three conditions individually answer paired isomorphic multiple-choice questions. Per question, we study the probability to answer the second isomorphic question correct and compare this between conditions The analyses show that teacher feedback, regardless of the peer discussions, positively affects learning gains in question pairs of the treatment conditions in comparison with the control condition. However, the cooperative condition shows that the largest learning gains occur when peer discussion is followed by teacher feedback. The findings provide insights into which feedback strategies affect learning gains in question pairs and are important for teachers when implementing feedback strategies during formative assessments.