The study investigated the impacts of different strategies of providing teacher written corrective feedback on first semester ESL/EFL students’ writing accuracy and writing quality. Four feedback strategies (indirect feedback, direct feedback, indirect feedback followed by direct feedback with explicit corrective comments, and no feedback) were employed in this study. One hundred twenty-one EFL freshman university students were randomly assigned into four feedback groups (IF, DF, IDECC, NF). Students in each group produced two narrative essays. Teacher feedback was provided in two segments for the first essay and students made two revisions based on the feedback. The errors on each stage of students’ writing were marked and counted to be compared among each stage of the writing and between groups. The results of data analysis showed that the mean number of errors in all three treatment groups decreased in each writing stage. All three treatment groups outperformed the no-feedback control group in each stage of writing in terms of grammatical accuracy and writing quality. There was no difference in the mean number of errors among three treatment groups in the first and second revisions. However, the IDECC group, who received indirect feedback followed by direct feedback with explicit corrective comments, outperformed all other groups in the second revision and in the new essay. The results also showed that the mean number of errors of all three treatment groups decreased in the new essay indicating that there was a long-term effect of teacher corrective feedback on the new essay. The results of the study suggest that providing teacher corrective feedback was effective in reducing students’ grammatical errors on their essays. All three treatment groups also gained in writing quality scores in the new essay indicating that, to a certain extent, there was an effect of teacher corrective feedback on writing quality. The findings are discussed in the context of the related literature. Areas of future research are discussed and practical implications are suggested. / Ph. D.

Behavioral economic theory describes a relation between response requirement and magnitude of reinforcement, and combines these variables into one independent variable (unit price) affecting operant behavior. This study investigated the relative effects of cumulative feedback on consumption for money as a commodity. Subjects were exposed to ranges of unit prices with or without a cumulative feedback bar on the computer screen indicating monetary earnings. For all participants in this study, consumption of money was a decreasing function of unit prices and the results from the present study are consistent with the behavioral economic prediction that increasing the unit price of a commodity will decrease consumption of that commodity. Analyses of demand curves, elasticity coefficients and response rates suggested differences between Feedback and No Feedback groups, although these were small and not statistically significant. The small differences observed were consistent with a behavior strengthening effect of feedback.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of a computer program on the training and maintenance of diaphragmatic breathing. The biofeedback portion was visual computer training and the results were displayed concurrently with participants' breathing responses to monitor display. The verbal feedback portion was praise that was given and recorded when participants responded with predominantly diaphragmatic breathing at the scheduled moment and response instruction that was given when participants responded with predominantly thoracic breathing. The results of this study indicate the computer program's effectiveness needs to be increased by supplementation with verbal feedback.

In this thesis I intend to write about how five primary school teachers reflect on formative assessment and how the formative assessment of students can take place practically according to teachers. My questions are: How do the five teachers perceive on formative assessment as a pedagogical approach? How do the teachers do to assess students’ knowledge? In what way do the teachers give feedback to students?The work is based on qualitative interview method where five elementary school teachers were able to reflect on their classroom practice with a focus on formative assessment. The theoryI have chosen to work from is the so-called five key strategies of formative assessment.These strategies are about; clarifying, communicating and creating understanding of the learning objectives and criteria for progress, to achieve effective classroom discussions, activities and learning data to show that learning has taken place, to provide feedback for learning forward, toenable students to become learning resources for one another, and to enable students to own their own learning. The results of the interviews showed that a formative approach lasted in a more implicit than an explicit meaning in classrooms. The formative approach was fairly a new phenomenon and had not begun in the larger extent of the interviewed teachers’ schools yet. Assessment materials were used to clarify the learning outcomes for students. Methods andactivities in the classrooms took place on a smaller scale in the form of discussions between students. Self-assessment was considered by most teachers as something they could not imagine or was considered to be too difficult for the students because of the children's young age. The results also showed that there is a great need to make time for evaluation and to gain knowledge of articulate, reflective subject issues to provide students with

The problem with which this study is concerned is a comparison of the effects of three methods of focused feedback upon selected client behaviors in individual counseling. This study has a twofold purpose. The first is to examine which of three methods of focused feedback (videotape, audiotape, or verbal) is most effective in producing selected behavioral changes in clients seen in individual counseling. The second is to compare the effects of the three methods of focused feedback on individual clients with the effects of a traditional individual counseling approach that did not utilize focused feedback.

Syftet med studien var att undersöka hur projektledare arbetar och förhåller sig till att ta emot feedback från kollegorna i sina projektteam. Likaså att ta reda på varför vissa projektledare arbetar aktivt med att be om feedback, medan andra projektledare väljer att bortprioritera momentet. Feedbackformen har benämnts som uppåtgående feedback inom denna studie. Tre forskningsfrågor utformades som berörde projektledarnas upplevelse, hantering och utmaningar med att ta emot feedback. För att besvara forskningsfrågorna genomfördes åtta kvalitativa semistrukturerade djupintervjuer med projektledare från olika branscher. Det insamlade materialet bearbetades genom att utföra en tematisk analys, som sedan resulterade i fyra teman. Enligt studiens resultat är feedback ett komplicerat, spännande och känsligt moment. Projektledarna som aktivt ber sina teammedlemmar om feedback gör det för att utvecklas, motiveras och öka sin självmedvetenhet. Projektledarna som inte ber sina teammedlemmar om feedback menar att det beror på att momentet är för känsligt, tidskrävande och de känner inte att har mandatet att be om feedbacken. Tid, mandat och ledarskapsansvar visades vara de största utmaningarna när det kom till uppåtgående feedback inom projekt.

Thesis advisor: Lauri Johnson / This qualitative case study examined teacher and administrator perceptions of how one Massachusetts school district used the feedback processes to facilitate teacher growth and development. Feedback was defined as any type of information about performance or progress towards a goal that is transferred from one individual or group to another individual or group. Data gathered from participant interviews, artifact analyses, and observations of district meetings found not only effective distribution and use of educator feedback, but also that teachers and administrators participated in feedback-seeking behavior. The district appeared to be successful in embedding a social learning culture that facilitated and conditioned the positive use of feedback as an activator for ongoing examination of teaching and learning as well as the development and progress monitoring of individual and collective district improvement goals. / Thesis (EdD) — Boston College, 2014. / Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education. / Discipline: Educational Leadership and Higher Education.

Abstract Over the past few years there has been an increasing number of people practicing yoga. There also have been reports of injuries as a result of practicing yoga. Many injuries have been attributed to poor teaching which can result in improper alignment. This study utilized a teaching technology, TAGteach to aide in skill acquisition of novice yoga practitioners. The current study focused on teaching three beginner asanas (poses) to novice practitioners. The intervention included the asanas being broken down by task analysis and the steps tagged one by one. The intervention was assessed by a multiple baseline across behaviors design. All targeted yoga postures improved upon the implementation of TAGteach and the results maintained after reinforcement was no longer provided and generalized to the yoga class setting. Keywords: Feedback, performance feedback, acoustical guidance, auditory stimulus, fitness, sports

This thesis is concerned with robust control of an offshore steel jacket platform subject to nonlinear wave-induced forces. Since time delay and uncertainty are inevitably encountered for an offshore structure and their existence may induce instability, oscillation and poor performance, it is very significant to study on how the delay and uncertainty affect the offshore structure. In this thesis, a memory robust control strategy is, for the first time, proposed to reduce the internal oscillations of the offshore structure under wave-induced forces, so as to ensure the safety and comfort of the offshore structure. Firstly, when the system's states are adopted as feedback, memory state feedback controllers are introduced for the offshore structure. By using Lyapunov-Krasovskii stability theory, some delay-dependent stability criteria have been established, based on which, and by combining with some linearization techniques, memory state feedback controllers are designed to control the offshore structure. The simulation results show that such controllers can effectively reduce the internal oscillations of the offshore structure subject to nonlinear wave-induced forces and uncertainties. On the other hand, a new Lyapunov-Krasovskii functional is introduced to derive a less conservative delay-dependent stability criterion. When this criterion is applied to the offshore structure, an improved memory state feedback controller with a small gain is obtained to control the system more effectively, which is sufficiently shown by the simulation. Secondly, when the system's outputs are adopted as feedback, memory dynamic output feedback controllers are considered for the offshore structure. By employing a projection theorem and a cone complementary linearization approach, memory dynamic output feedback controllers are derived by solving some nonlinear minimization problem subject to some linear matrix inequalities. The simulation results show that the internal oscillations of the offshore structure subject to nonlinear wave-induced forces are well attenuated. Finally, robust H control is fully investigated for the offshore structure. By employing Lyapunov-Krasovskii stability theory, some delay-dependent bounded real lemmas have been obtained, under which, via a memory state feedback controller or a dynamic output feedback controller, the resulting closed-loop system is not only asymptotically stable but also with a prescribed disturbance attenuation level. The simulation results illustrate the validity of the proposed method.

<p> </p><p>Det huvudsakliga syftet med mitt examensarbete var att undersöka hur elever i årskurs 7 resonerar kring sitt deltagande på idrottslektionerna, deras motiv huruvida de väljer att avstå eller delta i undervisningen. Min undersökning bygger på kvalitativa intervjuer, där eleverna intervjuats i frågor rörande förväntningar, olika slags motivation, kommunikation och relationer. Jag har studerat och jämfört likheter och skillnader mellan elevernas motiv. Studien visar på få skillnader i motiven men desto fler likheter. Resultatet pekar på att aktiviteterna, deras nivå och kommunikationen mellan lärare- elev och elev- elev är en väsentlig grund för elevernas deltagande. Vidare visar det sig att eleverna är hälsomedvetna och att denna medvetenhet bidrar till rörelse på lektionerna. De faktorer eleverna beskrev som anledningar att sitta vid sidan om var bland annat sjukdom och skador. Eleverna visar dock ett allmänt genuint intresse för att vara fysiskt aktiva då de sysselsätter sig med andra fysiska aktiviteter, även om de inte deltar i den obligatoriska idrottsundervisningen.</p><p> </p> / <p> </p><p>The main purpose with this study was to investigate the motivational behavior of pupils in an elementary school, with respect to whether they participate in the PE class or not. The study is based on interviews, where I have asked the pupils questions concerning expectations, external and internal motivation, communication and relationships. Afterwards I made comparisons on likeliness and differences in their answers, where patterns were discovered. The study shows a small amount of differences and a larger set of likeliness on their purposes to attend or not attend PE. The result indicates that the activities, their level and the teacher-pupil and pupil- pupil communication are the most important reasons to participate. Moreover it is shown that pupils that are aware of their health and this awareness promotes movement. Illness and injuries were described as the main factors to step aside and not participate. The pupils show a genuine interest about physical activities in general, as they keep themselves occupied with other physical activities, even though they’re not participating in the compulsory PE class.</p>