Open AccessTHE EFFECT OF STUDENT REFLECTION QUALITY ON A TECHNICAL WRITING ASSIGNMENT RESUBMISSION
Author(s) -
Rana Yekani,
Sarah Bluteau,
Sidney Omelon
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
proceedings of the ... ceea conference
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
ISSN - 2371-5243
DOI - 10.24908/pceea.vi0.13858
Subject(s) - rubric , grading (engineering) , reflection (computer programming) , computer science , mathematics education , quality (philosophy) , graduate students , psychology , medical education , pedagogy , engineering , medicine , philosophy , civil engineering , epistemology , programming language
The role of reflection and self-regulation in academic performance was tested using the "Exam Wrapper" strategy with a writing assignment for a technical elective course. The technical writing assignment involved the creation of a detailed outline for a technical report. This outline was submitted for grading and feedback before a subsequent extended technical report assignment. The outline was graded by the course teaching assistant, following a detailed grading rubric.
After receiving the grade and feedback, students could resubmit a revised outline for re-grading, and include a reflection on the circumstances of their performance. Using the grading rubric, the resubmission was graded by the course instructor. A second graduate student evaluated the student reflection quality, and the resubmission quality.
The effect of the self-reflection quality on re-submitted assignment improvement was assessed. The average grade improvement for students who resubmitted a reflection was +15.1 % (n=16), and for students who resubmitted without a reflection was +6.3 % (n=3). The difference between the average resubmitted and first submission grades positively correlated with reflection quality. These results suggest that a reflection exercise associated with a resubmission has potential to improve student technical writing quality.