Effectiveness of a computer-based feedback system for writing

Abstract

Miami-Dade Community College has developed a computer-based instructional management program that assists faculty in providing individualized feedback to their students about writing and keeps meticulous records of students' writing and faculty's feedback activities. The computer system that was used for this program is RSVP (Response System with Variable Prescriptions). The term "prescriptions" in the name RSVP stands for individualized feedback statements that are intended to reinforce students for the correctness of their writing, assist them in correcting their errors, and/or expand their understanding of fundamental concepts. Based on designs determined by the faculty, these statements are combined and printed as a cohesive letter of communication from faculty to individual students.The RSVP Feedback Program for Individualized Analysis of Writing was field tested in two community colleges by four faculty. Each participant used the program for one section of a course and not for another at the freshman composition level. The faculty were free to select their own textbooks, teaching methods, and grading policies. The program functioned as a support system.At the end of our experimental study with pre- and post-test measures, we found that the students in the RSVP groups scored significantly higher than those in the non-RSVP groups on the objective test but not on the essay test. We also found in a general attitude questionnaire that the students in all four groups felt more positive toward their classes on writing than toward writing itself, and the students receiving RSVP feedback felt slightly more positive toward writing than did the students in the non-RSVP groups. Finally, we found in an RSVP questionnaire that the students in all the RSVP groups felt quite positive about the feedback program; in an RSVP questionnaire for faculty, we found that two of the four teachers expressed positive reactions toward the program, one expressed negative reactions, and one expressed mixed reactions.As a support system for various configurations of teaching strategies and curriculum materials, the RSVP Feedback Program was intended to give individualized feedback in definable areas of writing such as punctuation, grammar, and diction. On the other hand, holistic scoring--the method used to evaluate the essay tests--spans areas that the totality of instructional activities is intended to cover, although not necessarily addressed by the RSVP Feedback Program. While there was a significant difference between the RSVP and non-RSVP groups on the objective test that focused on the areas covered by the RSVP Feedback Program, there was no significant difference in the holistic scores that represented the "whole" writing. In other words, the RSVP Feedback Program accomplished what it was expected to do, nothing more and nothing less.