The Impact of Timely Formative Feedback on University Student Motivation

While key attributes of effective feedback have frequently been included in studies on student learning, little research has focused on the impact of the timeliness of feedback on student motivation. By providing students with written feedback at 1, 3, 7, 10, or 14 days after submission, this mixed design study enriches our understanding of the feedback timeliness and its importance on student motivation. Based on survey data of undergraduate and postgraduate students from a wide range of disciplines including health and social sciences, screenwriting, business administration, and finance over a three-year period, our findings indicate that students express significantly lower levels of motivation if the feedback took greater than 10 days but they did not distinguish between ‘timely’ and ‘extremely timely’ feedback. Our quantitative analysis reveals that feedback comments and turnaround are significant determinants of student motivation, providing areas of focus for both educators and administrators. However, content of feedback showed the highest impact and our qualitative analysis supported this, with 57% of students mentioning content of the feedback. Students especially appreciate thorough, personalised, and specific assessment of strengths and weaknesses. Not surprisingly, 48% mentioned the importance of a high-quality educator, so great teaching is also important in motivating our students.