The Use of Orally Recorded Exam Feedback as a Supplement to Written Comments

Abstract

While written comments are a popular and potentially effective method of student exam feedback, these comments are often overshadowed by students' focus on their grades. In this paper I discuss the additional use of orally recorded exam feedback in introductory statistics classes of 40 or fewer students. While grading and writing comments on a student's exam solution, I create a personalized sound file of detailed oral feedback for each question. The student can then securely access this file. The oral feedback in combination with written comments is more understandable for and motivating to the students, and accommodates a broader range of student learning styles. In support of this new feedback method, I provide and discuss classroom data collected from my students. Furthermore, I make suggestions for the use of orally recording feedback when time and resources are scarce.