Bradley Irwin

Nihon University

About

Over the last seventeen years I’ve taught in Canada, France, and Japan, where I currently reside. At present, I’m an Assistant Professor in the Department of International Liberal Arts at Nihon University College of International Relations. My research interests include critical literacies, language learner identity, autonomous learning, and computer assisted language learning. When I’m not thinking about education, I’m usually thinking about waves or snow. I enjoy surfing and snowboarding in my free time.

Sessions

Paper Presentation Enhancing formative feedback in online academic writing classes using personalized screencasts more

Sun, Jun 6, 11:30-12:00 Asia/Tokyo

This presentation will describe the findings of a recently completed exploratory study that examined the effectiveness of using screencast feedback to improve the essay revision process of students’ writing in an undergraduate academic writing course. Participants (N=20) were tasked with completing and revising two 1500-word essays during a 15-week course. While the writing tasks for all participants were the same, the type of feedback they received depended on whether they were in the control or experimental group. In the control group (N=12), participants were given ‘traditional’ written feedback on their essays where the instructor made annotations, comments, and suggestions on a Microsoft Word document. In the experimental group (N=8), participants received feedback in the form of a screencast video which included audio comments and suggestions for revising problematic aspects of the essays. The revised essays were then analyzed to compare whether the type of feedback had an effect on the quality of revision and whether students engaged in self-correction. The results showed that participants who received screencast feedback evaluated it more positively than written feedback, completed a higher percentage of revisions, and engaged in more instances of self-correction. Further findings indicated that this multimodal approach to providing feedback helped build a rapport between the teacher and students which led to increased motivation and task engagement. This presentation will be of particular interest to educators looking for an innovative approach to providing personalized, formative feedback using screencasts in face-to-face or online learning environments.

Bradley Irwin