QUALITY COMPONENTS OF PROFESSORS’ FEEDBACK TO STUDENTS OF TECHNICAL AND ENGINEERING SCHOOLS: A PHENOMENOLOGICAL STUDY

Abstract

Feedback, as the heart of the learning assessment system and the quality of its presentation methods, plays an irreplaceable role in the relationship between professor and student. Searching in databases and field evidence shows professors give feedback, but their feedback is not of sufficient quality. For this purpose, we tried to use descriptive phenomenology to answer the question based on the lived experience of students of technical and engineering schools, what are the components of the quality of professors’ feedback to students. We conducted 18 semi-structured interviews with students of technical schools of Tehran University, which were analyzed using the Colaizzi strategy. The findings identified 100 indicators that were classified into 12 criteria and 4 factors core elements, professional factors, presentation techniques, and effectiveness evaluation. The findings showed that the nature and quality of feedback expected by students in technical schools is multilevel, multi-faceted, flexible, and has a two-way process. Still, in practice, no valid evidence was obtained to examine and defend the quality of the provided feedback. Evaluators, researchers, professors, and students can use the results of this study as a feedback evaluating scheme. At the end of the research, we have presented solutions to improve the current situation and suggestions for further studies.

Keywords

• feedback
• quality of feedback
• quality of classroom feedback
• verbal feedback
• professor-to-student