Exploring writer vs content focused reference in written student feedback: mixed evidence from quantitative and content analysis results

Emotional reaction to negative academic feedback can be a barrier to students’ engagement with feedback. One factor that may impact students’ emotional response is whether feedback addresses the student (e.g., “Your writing”) or the content (e.g., “The writing”). This exploratory study investigated how form of address in feedback impacts emotional reaction. Student participants (N=106) read simulated feedback statements that varied according to reference type (pronominal “your”, neutral “the”) and feedback polarity (positive, negative) and provided ratings for emotional response, as well as attention paid to, and usefulness. An open response question queried participants’ perceptions regarding personal or neutral address in feedback. There was no significant effect of reference type on quantitative feedback ratings for emotion, attention, or usefulness, but qualitative content analysis revealed that half the sample preferred neutral address, largely to mitigate the emotional impact of negative feedback. Feedback polarity had a consistent significant effect where students perceived positive feedback as higher in happy emotion and usefulness compared to negative feedback. A more nuanced pattern for attention showed a small decrease in attention for positive compared to negative feedback for neutral references. Our results inform practice in terms of how written feedback can be framed to facilitate engagement.