Towards a Process-Oriented Approach to Feedback Research

Feedback is an essential means of supporting learners in improving their performance. However, there is often a gap between the potential and the actual use of feedback. Adopting a process-oriented perspective, this dissertation investigates task-level learning engagement as a central mechanism of the effectiveness of automated feedback on writing performance. Against the background of increasing digitalization and the growing use of artificial intelligence (AI) in education, it focuses on automated feedback during text revision and contributes to a more comprehensive understanding of the feedback process. This dissertation extends the Student–Feedback Interaction Model by Lipnevich and Smith (2022) by incorporating task-level behavioral learning engagement as a component of the feedback process. Behavioral learning engagement is conceptualized as learners' proactive and observable behavior during a learning activity and is operationalized using process measures derived from revision behavior. Across three empirical studies and two additional analyses, participants completed writing and revision tasks with or without automated feedback provided by automatic writing evaluation systems or generative AI. Process measures obtained from log files and keystroke logging were used to investigate behavioral learning engagement and were subsequently examined with regard to their construct validity. The findings demonstrate that behavioral learning engagement mediates the effect of automated feedback on revision performance. Automated feedback increased behavioral learning engagement during text revision, which in turn improved writing performance. Furthermore, the findings provide empirical support for the construct validity of typing time and the total number of keystrokes as process measures of behavioral learning engagement, whereas writing pause measures were not suitable indicators of cognitive learning engagement. Overall, this dissertation highlights task-level behavioral learning engagement as a crucial mechanism in the feedback process and provides theoretical, methodological, and practical contributions to process-oriented feedback research and the further development of AI-supported feedback systems in educational contexts.

Level thesis:degree_level

thesis.doctoral

Grantor dc:publisher

Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel

Year

2025

Author dc:creator

• Schiller, Ronja

Contributors dc:contributor

• Köller, Olaf
• Meyer, Jennifer
• Möller, Jens

• Feedback
• Task-Level Learning Engagement
• Technology-Enhanced Learning
• Process Measures

Repository record source_url

https://macau.uni-kiel.de/receive/macau_mods_00008731

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:macau.uni-kiel.de:macau_mods_00008731