Background/Purpose According to the Competence Motivation Theory (Harter, 1978, 1981), successful mastery attempts can be supportive of competence or intrinsic motivation through affect. Researchers have found feedback that provides students with specific information may be beneficial for student achievement. The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of feedback on process performance, perceived competence, and affect, and to determine if successful process performance is related to affect.
Method Participants (N=113) from two elementary schools were randomly assigned to groups of six and to receive a feedback treatment (general, informational, and no feedback). Participants performed a pre-test, practice, and post-test of the lacrosse shot and received a feedback treatment during practice. During practice, teachers administered feedback treatments to participants at the rate of every other attempt.
Analysis/Results A split plot 2x3 factorial ANOVA revealed the interaction between process performance change was related to feedback treatment conditions [F(1,110)=5.49, p=.005] and a significant main effect for performance change [F(1,110)=3.93, p=.022]. Tukey's post hoc revealed informational feedback had a statistically greater effect (p=.016) than general feedback. Additional results revealed no differences between feedback groups among perceived competence or affect and process performance was not a predictor of affect.
Conclusions The results indicate that feedback does have an effect on process performance. Students' who receive informational feedback improve their skill form at a higher rate than those who receive general or no feedback. However, there was not a significant relationship between feedback and perceived competence or affect nor was post-task product performance a predictor of affect.
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