The Impact of Teacher Feedback Via Google Doc in L2 Learners’ Writing

Academic writing of assignments is challenging for many undergraduate students of English, and therefore, instructors' written evaluative comments are needed to help students obtain information about their performance in such academic written tasks. As a qualitative case study, this study was carried out on one undergraduate course, specifically on the instructor's written comments on 10 learners' peer academic writing of article reports, how students revise their texts in responding to written comments and how they view such comments and academic writing via Google Docs. The data was collected from the written comments, students’ text revisions and a focus group interview. The findings show that the instructor commented on issues and errors at the global and local levels of academic texts directly and indirectly. Quantification of the data illustrated that the instructor provided the five pairs of learners with an overall number of 1440 which targeted 373 (25%) global issues and 1067 (75%) local issues in the writing of the five pairs. In terms of direction, 977 (68%) accounted for direct feedback, while 463 (32%) accounted for indirect feedback. Distribution of the feedback received by the learners varied across the five pairs of students. The findings indicate that most of the learners’ text revisions were made based on teacher feedback (1187/93%), while only 95 (7%) revisions were self-made revisions. The thematic analysis of the follow-up interview underlies students’ perceived value of teacher feedback in improving their writing, their preference for direct feedback on their writing, their perceived role of Google doc in editing their written assignments. Yet, a few students reported a few restrictions of Google Dos-peer writing and editing. The current study implied that teachers should act as mediators, be aware of the role of feedback in facilitating their students’ development of writing and misinterpretation and confusion their feedback can cause to our students in the process of writing revision, and decide what issues their feedback needs to target, focus on what issues actually challenge their learners in writing. Finally, feedback practices should be made innovative through integration of technological tools.

Exploring awareness of age-related changes among over 50s in the UK: findings from the PROTECT study

ABSTRACT Objectives: Older people describe positive and negative age-related changes, but we do not know much about what contributes to make them aware of these changes. We used content analysis to categorize participants’ written comments and explored the extent to which the identified categories mapped onto theoretical conceptualizations of influences on awareness of age-related change (AARC). Design: Cross-sectional observational study. Participants: The study sample comprised 609 UK individuals aged 50 years or over (mean (SD) age = 67.9 (7.6) years), enrolled in the PROTECT study. Measurements: Between January and March 2019, participants provided demographic information, completed a questionnaire assessing awareness of age-related change (AARC-10 SF), and responded to an open-ended question asking them to comment on their responses. Results: While some of the emerging categories were in line with the existing conceptual framework of AARC (e.g. experiencing negative changes and attitudes toward aging), others were novel (e.g. engagement in purposeful activities or in activities that distract from age-related thoughts). Analysis revealed some of the thought processes involved in selecting responses to the questionnaire items, demonstrating different ways in which people make sense of specific items. Conclusions: Results support the ability of the AARC questionnaire to capture perceived age-related changes in cognitive functioning, physical and mental health, and engagement in social activities and in healthy and adaptive behaviors. However, findings also suggest ways of enriching the theoretical conceptualization of how AARC develops and offer insights into interpretation of responses to measures of AARC.

P113 An Exploration of Factors that Affect Perceived Onset Latency during the MSLT Test

It is assumed that during the MSLT test, the sleep laboratory environment will be appropriately resourced to facilitate sleep. However, anecdotal evidence suggests that a variety of factors may actually hinder sleep onset, although this possibility has not been formally investigated in the literature. Thirty-four MSLT participants, who attended the sleep unit between 2018 and 2019, completed a questionnaire that was designed to test perception of sleep onset latency by asking them how easy/difficult it was for them to fall asleep on 17 items that came from four categories. The four categories were the 1. sleep unit environment, e.g. noise/ room temperature; 2. the MSLT procedure, e.g. wires/fixed nap times; 3. the MSLT staff e.g. manner/ clarity of explanations and 4. pain/distress unrelated to the test. All items were rated on a five-point Likert scale. Space was provided for written comments for each category. Overall, the relationship with staff had the greatest impact on perceived sleep onset latency. Forty-one percent of participants reported that the provision of a thorough explanation of the day’s procedure helped them fall asleep in naps. Thirty-five percent reported that their own pain and discomfort affected their ability to sleep. Light and noise had little impact. This research indicates that the staff-patient relationship plays a significant role in patient’s experience of the MSLT and may potentially affect test outcomes.

The Effects of Online Organic Chemistry Laboratory Videos on Students’ Perceptions and Intrinsic Motivation

The purpose of this exploratory study is to investigate students’ use and perceptions of online videos and intrinsic motivation toward the online videos in an organic chemistry laboratory course, which used online videos to assist students’ preparation and learning in the lab. Students’ responses to an anonymous survey showed that they watched the online videos one or more times based on their available time. Descriptive statistics showed that students had positive perceptions about the effect of online videos in terms of their preparation of labs, understanding the concepts, doing hands-on activities, and other aspects in the lab, which were consistent with their written comments. 44% of students showed positive intrinsic motivation toward the online videos according to items based on self-determination theory. Correlation results showed that the effect subscales were strongly related to each other, and students’ intrinsic motivation was significantly and positively related to students’ perceived effect of the online videos on their understanding and preparation with medium to large effect sizes. Inferential tests showed that students who had a positive perception of intrinsic motivation scored significantly higher on the understanding subscale with a medium to large effect size. The findings in this study suggest the online organic chemistry laboratory videos have significant potential to improve students learning and it is important to stimulate student intrinsic motivation toward the online videos which will help students benefits more from the effects of the online videos.

Inclusive Assessment of Class Participation: Students’ Takeaways as a One-Minute Paper

ABSTRACT Building on the concept of a one-minute paper, I suggest students’ takeaways as a simple technique for inclusive assessment of participation in a classroom. Acknowledging cultural and language barriers, the takeaways technique allows an instructor to grade participation not by observing the frequency of spoken comments but instead by the quality of written comments in students’ one-point takeaway memos completed at the end of each class. In this way, all students have an equal chance to be appraised for their participation, indicated by being attentive in class. This article surveys the scholarship on one-minute papers and participation grading in political science, outlines takeaway procedures, and discusses how to adjust this technique for face-to-face and online learning environments. I suggest that takeaways ensure transparency in grading participation, enable equal opportunities to participate, encourage students’ attentiveness, and create a communication channel for the exchange of immediate feedback between a professor and students.

Comparison of the Assessment of Patient Satisfaction Using Active and Passive Feedback

ABSTRACT Introduction The outpatient department of any hospital is the first direct point of contact to the patients with the hospital. To understand the difficulties faced by the patients and to understand their perceptions, it is important to assess patient satisfaction. This study was designed to compare the difference in patient satisfaction responses and outcomes using two methods: active feedback collection (AFC) and passive feedback collection (PFC). Methods The study was conducted for a period of 2 months using a validated, structured questionnaire in four languages. To differentiate the questionnaires, those for PFC were marked P and those for AFC as A. The questionnaire consisted of 21 questions. PFC was obtained when patients voluntarily filled out the feedback forms placed at different locations, and AFC was obtained by systematically approaching randomly selected patients. Results Of the 809 patients who participated in the study, 131 were passive and 678 active. The study revealed that the satisfaction level was higher in the AFC group. It was observed that 82% of those in the PFC group and 35% of those in the AFC group had given specific written comments. The negative comments were higher in the PFC group than in the AFC group. Conclusions The AFC method gives a good overview of the patients' journeys through the system and it can be used for systemic feedback collection. The PFC method provides an avenue to get more written suggestions and adverse comments that could help in planning remedial measures. The study showed that both methods collect complementary information for the managers to facilitate improvement of services.

Facial conformation characteristics in Persian and Exotic Shorthair cats

Objectives The primary objectives of the study were to examine the diversity in facial conformation characteristics within a group of Persian (PER) and Exotic Shorthair (EXO) show cats, and to contrast the results to findings within a group of non-purebred domestic shorthair (DSH) and domestic longhair (DLH) cats. The secondary objectives were to determine the PER/EXO show cat owners’ perceptions of the breathing status of their cats, and to evaluate if remarks from the cat show judges concerning the cats’ head and facial conformation were exclusively related to the aesthetic features of the cats. Methods Sixty-four PER and 12 EXO show cats were prospectively examined at five international cat shows, and 20 DSH/DLH cats were examined at an animal hospital. Facial conformation characteristics were evaluated by examining photos of the cats. Owners of the PER/EXO show cats answered a questionnaire concerning their cats’ health status, and they were encouraged to send in the judges’ score sheets from the cat shows. Results The PER/EXO show cats had higher diversity in facial conformation characteristics than the DSH/DLH cats, and high incidences of hypoplasia of the nose leather (95%), the nose leather top positioned above the level of the lower eyelid (93%), moderate-to-severe stenotic nares (86%), epiphora (83%) and entropion (32%). Owners of 6/76 PER/EXO show cats stated that their cat had increased respiratory sounds and/or trouble breathing at least once a week. The cat show judges’ written comments were exclusively related to aesthetic features of the cats’ head and facial conformation details. Conclusions and relevance Hypoplasia of the nose leather, high position of the nose leather top, stenotic nares, epiphora and entropion were common findings in the PER/EXO show cats but not in the DSH/DLH cats. Few of the cat owners perceived that their cat had problems related to the airways.