Audio Feedback - Student and Teaching Assistant Perspectives on an Alternative Mode of Feedback for Written Assignments

Oct 15, 2026

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Competence in written scientific communication is a key learning outcome in undergraduate science degrees, and writing can help students learn, think critically, and communicate disciplinary insights. Yet large classes face major obstacles, including limited student engagement and difficulty providing effective, personalized formative feedback. The study integrates audio feedback into early stages of a multi-part scientific literacy assignment in a large biology course, collecting data from teaching assistants and students to evaluate utility and effects.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages20

Reading Time50 min

AccessFree to download

Abstract

Background and challenge

Implementation of audio feedback

Findings from students and teaching assistants

The Canadian Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning | Volume 9 | Issue 2 | Article 2 | | --- | --- | | Fall 9-30-2018
Audio Feedback: Student and Teaching Assistant Perspectives on an Alternative Mode of Feedback for Written Assignments
Fiona Rawle
University of Toronto Mississauga, [fiona.rawle@utoronto.ca](fiona.rawle@utoronto.ca)[ ](fiona.rawle@utoronto.ca)Mindy Thuna
University of Toronto Mississauga Ting Zhao
University of Toronto Mississauga Michael Kaler
University of Toronto Mississauga, [michael.kaler@utoronto.ca](michael.kaler@utoronto.ca)
Follow this and additional works at: [https://ir.lib.uwo.ca/cjsotl_rcacea](https://ir.lib.uwo.ca/cjsotl_rcacea)
Part of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning Commons, and the Science and Mathematics Education Commons | | Recommended Citation Rawle, F., Thuna, M., Zhao, T., & Kaler, M. (2018). Audio Feedback: Student and Teaching Assistant Perspectives on an Alternative Mode of Feedback for Written Assignments. The Canadian Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, 9 (2). Retrieved from [https://ir.lib.uwo.ca/cjsotl_rcacea/vol9/iss2/2](https://ir.lib.uwo.ca/cjsotl_rcacea/vol9/iss2/2) Audio Feedback: Student and Teaching Assistant Perspectives on an Alternative Mode of Feedback for Written Assignments Abstract Competence in written scientific communication is an important learning outcome of undergraduate science degrees. Writing helps students learn, encourages them to think creatively and critically about their learning, and trains them in communicating their insights as disciplinary experts. However, challenges exist in incorporating writing assignments into large undergraduate science classes, including lack of student engagement and difficulty in providing effective and personalized formative feedback to large numbers of students. Engagement and feedback are especially important for developing writing skills, which require active, reflective, critical attention on the learner’s part: it would be very useful if one mechanism could enhance both. We recently integrated audio feedback into the stages ofa term-long, multi-part scientific literacy assignment in a large undergraduate biology class at the University of Toronto Mississauga, using it for formative purposes at early stages ofthe assignment. In order to determine the utility and effect of the audio feedback, we collected data from both teaching assistants (TAs) and students. In general, students felt audio feedback was constructive and engaging, and both TAs and students commented that audio feedback was more personal than written feedback. However, TAs noted that it took longer for them to give audio feedback compared with written feedback, and that they encountered technical issues with emailing audio feedback to the students. Overall, the response to audio feedback from both students and TAs suggested that this approach is logistically feasible and might aid in overcoming the disengagement that is often found in large introductory courses. La compétence en communication scientifique écrite est un résultat d’apprentissage important dans le cadre des diplômes en sciences au niveau du premier cycle. L’écriture aide les étudiants à apprendre, les encourage à réfléchir avec créativité et sens critique à propos de leur apprentissage et leur donne la formation nécessaire pour communiquer leurs idées en tant qu’experts dans leur discipline. Toutefois, il existe un certain nombrede défis dans le cas de grandes classes de sciences au niveau du premier cycle quand il s’agit d’y incorporer lestravaux écrits, entre autres la participation des étudiants et les difficultés à donner à un grand nombred’étudiants des rétroactions formatives personnalisées. La participation et les rétroactions sont des élémentsparticulièrement importants pour que les apprenants développent des compétences en écriture, qui exigent deleur part une attention active, réflective et critique.

FAQs

Why is written scientific communication important for undergraduates?

It is an important learning outcome that helps students learn, think creatively and critically, and communicate insights as disciplinary experts.

What problem does the study target in large undergraduate science classes?

It addresses low student engagement and the difficulty of providing effective, personalized formative feedback to many students.

What did students and teaching assistants report about audio feedback?

Students generally found audio feedback constructive and engaging, and both groups described it as more personal than written feedback, while noting time and technical challenges for TAs.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Fans