Effectiveness of Automated Formative Feedback in an OnlinTutorial for Promoting Summarizing

Abstract

We conducted a study with the aim to investigate the effectiveness of automated formative feedback in improving students’ ability to summarize. One-hundred and thirty-eight undergraduate students in an elementary education program were asked to summarize six scientific texts, with the experimental group (N=87) receiving automated formative feedback in a computer-based learning environment (FALB). FALB provides automated feedback about content coverage, copying words avoidance, redundancy avoidance, relevance, and length. Comparing the experimental group to a control group (N=51), results implied that summarizing skills could be fostered when interacting with FALB. In particular, the automated formative feedback promoted the adherence to the predefined length and the avoidance of copying words while maintaining a high content coverage, fostering cognitive processes essential for constructing a mental model of a text. In addition, students in the experimental group were able to maintain high quality summaries in their final session when not scaffolded. In conclusion, FALB supports the alignment of internal standards with external standards and provides an incentive to revise and engage with texts.