(1) The document summarizes research into faculty and student perceptions of using asynchronous audio feedback for student coursework. (2) Both faculty and students found that audio feedback provided a more personal touch and helped with retention compared to just written feedback, though using both audio and written feedback together was viewed as most effective. (3) While audio feedback required more time, it allowed faculty to elaborate more and students felt it increased their sense of connection to instructors and motivation.

1. Faculty & Student Perceptions of Asynchronous Audio Feedback Denise Nelson

2. Plan Background Audio feedback process technical commenting strategies Research process & findings faculty training students/faculty perspectives Recommendations Future Interest 2

3. Who has experience with audio commenting of student coursework? 3

4. Background Framed by the Community of Inquiry theoretical framework Draws upon the work of Dr. Phil Ice on audio feedback, differences being population – mostly undergrads level of cognition not analyzed faculty perspectives situated in SIAST - context of 3 online programs Practical Nursing Program Perioperative Nursing Program Faculty Certificate Program Project sponsored by Campus Saskatchewan and SIAST Research conducted Fall 2009 – June 2010 4

5. 5 Garrison, D. R., Anderson, T., & Archer, W. (2000).

6. Community of Inquiry 6 Social presence is “the ability of participants to identify with the community (e.g., course of study), communicate purposefully in a trusting environment, and develop inter-personal relationships by way of projecting their individual personalities.” (Garrison, 2009) Teaching Presence is the design, facilitation, and direction of cognitive and social processes for the purpose of realizing personally meaningful and educationally worthwhile learning outcomes (Anderson, Rourke, Garrison & Archer, 2001). Cognitive Presence is the extent to which learners are able to construct and confirm meaning through sustained reflection and discourse (Garrison, Anderson & Archer, 2001).

7. Focus on Feedback Students can cope without face-to-face teaching, but they cannot cope without regular feedback on assignments (Gibbs & Simpson, 2004). 7

8. Audio Feedback Technique Convert student document to pdf. Configure Adobe Acrobat Professional with comment/mark-up tools. Use Adobe Acrobat Pro, microphone/headset and Microsoft Sound Recorder to embed comments. Listen to recording to ensure clarity. Inform students to double-click Provide upfront note to students to contact faculty if difficulty in accessing audio. 8

9. Technical Process 9

10. Additional Hardware/Software Adobe Acrobat Pro Headset/Microphone USB, noise-canceling 10

11. Read the entire student assignment. Decide which feedback audio/text mark-up. Give feedback like face-to-face. Use audio to elaborate details, summarize, give examples/references. Integrate and situate audio and text comments. Do not repeat the written word in audio. Situate mark in audio comment. 11 Commenting Strategies

12. …Commenting Strategies Use text mark-up for specific grammar, punctuation etc. Use mark-up tools - customized stamps, highlighting, callout, arrows... Can insert attachments. Include rubrics. Other uses - summarizing/weaving discussions, exam review 12

13. Mark-Up Example 13

14. Research 14

15. Literature Review 15

17. How does the use of audio feedback impact the students’ sense of community in asynchronous learning networks?

19. Sample Convenience Nursing programs & Faculty Certificate Program (FCP) students and faculty Participants: 8 faculty respondents (all) 14 student respondents – 8 FCP, 6 Practical Nursing Program 18

20. Faculty Training 19

21. Data Collection Program areas randomly selected assignments to include written feedback only or audio and written feedback. Nature of assignments ranged from paragraph responses to major papers. ~ half of assignments used written feedback and half used written and audio feedback. Completion of course 20

22. Findings 21

23. Audio vs. Text --Which is More Effective? Qualitative – both students & faculty perceived that audio in conjunction with written is most effective Students and faculty comfortable with written and reluctant to negate its value Students perceived audio more effective re Personalization Retention Motivation Understanding instructor’s intent Feelings of involvement and instructor caring 22

24. Student Perceptions of Auditory Compared to Written 23

25. Student Voices 24 “Certainly tone of voice and inflection help to distinguish intended meaning more accurately than written text.” “I enjoyed the enhanced feedback (audio), and I think with it an instructor can be more detailed with his analysis. If [instructor] had to write out all his advice for my first paper it may have been longer than the paper itself.” “I was thoroughly impressed and motivated by the format (audio and written) selected…”

26. Student Follow-Up Email Responses Re useful feedback 25 “Audio comments could include references to other resources, good examples that could replace errors, and specific pieces of work that were good and why.” “the most important thing in my mind is to give something that isn’t as easy to write down—for example something a bit more lengthy you might want to say or a longer explanation etc. The things that go into the marking that you can’t just jot down really quickly.”

27. Audio Feedback Impact on Sense of Community? Connectedness Personalization Authenticity Enhances social presence 26

28. Student Voices 27 “It was nice to have the audio of the instructors, it made me feel more personal and that you were more of a class.” “I thought it was easy to use and make you feel more connected to the instructor, even in a distance course.” “I enjoyed the auditory feedback because I felt more like the instructor was speaking directly to me, although I appreciated the written comments equally.”

29. Audio Feedback & Student Satisfaction? Based on open comments of web survey, 9 of the 11 students seemed satisfied. “did not always work” “annoying, a true conversation or written comments would be better” “It seemed the instructor was trying to sound neutral in the audio feedback which left a feeling of apathy.” voice inflection and nuance to grasp more meaning more and elaborate feedback Details Examples References 28

30. Perceived Learning Impacted by Audio Feedback? Faculty and students perceive audio enhances learning. 3/4 students who responded to email interview questions revealed that audio feedback supports learning when it is personable, clear and detailed as “opposed to a check mark.” 29 “I found that I retained the verbal feedback better than just reading about it.” “Sometimes it (audio feedback) was very informative. Hearing their voices made it stick more into my head. I took it more seriously for if you wanted to know why something was the way it was marked, you had to listen.”

31. Audio Feedback & Faculty Satisfaction? Perceive benefits of social, cognitive and teaching presence Added value - more quantity and quality of feedback, even though it requires more faculty time to plan and create Incorporating a variety of media helps to project teaching presence and support student’s varied learning preferences. Liked informality Preferred use for lengthy and complex assignments 30

32. Faculty Voices VoiceThread conversation 31

33. General Research Findings No clear preference for written or audio More time required to listen and/or provide audio comments Student populations differ Quality of audio dependent on various factors: audio settings, equipment, noise 32

34. More Student Voices 33 “Certainly tone of voice and inflection help to distinguish intended meaning more accurately than written text.” “This is my first experience with audio feedback and I think it is AWESOME. The insertion of text is also beneficial.” “option was easy to access” “I liked the audio because this instructor said more than ‘good job’.” “Listening to feedback as you went through a paper was very helpful, almost like a one on one with the instructor to hear their thoughts as they progressed through reading the paper.” “more personal, negative comments seen as more constructive. Increased perception of teacher engagement.”

35. Faculty Example Example of student paper Example 34

36. Summary - Faculty Affords elaboration Personalizes feedback Easier to express oneself -“feel freer to expand on comments” Expect technical glitches √ complex assignments, research papers, critiques All recommend its use 35

37. What are limitations of audio commenting? 36

38. Recommendations Provide portal of resources and have a resource person for inquiries/support Investigate further use –discussions/group work to evaluate impact Investigate LMS which supports user-friendly audio embed Investigate further use by/purchase of software for interested faculty Investigate options for student use 37

39. Future Interest Explore strategies to improve feedback practices….Transforming the Experience of Students Through Assessment (TESTA) http:/www.testa.ac.uk/resources/best-practice-guides 38

40. Denise Nelson instructional designer, SIAST denise.nelson@siast.sk.ca http://www.slideshare.net/nelsond/facultystudent-perceptionsofasynchronousaudiofeedbackcnie2011 Thank you for participating 39