Instant Feedback Lowers Learning

Online homework systems are “cool”. We like them as faculty (in spite of our frustrations), students generally like them, and we believe that instant feedback is a good thing.

Learning is a different process than connecting a stimulus with the proper response (“conditioning”). The effect of instant feedback might help conditioning, but can definitely interfere with learning in humans. Schooler and Anderson published an article entitled “The disruptive potential of immediate feedback” (see http://act-r.psy.cmu.edu/publications/pubinfo.php?id=313 ). The logic for being disruptive is that the instant feedback competes with the learning content for resources in the working memory. Paying attention to feedback means that there is less attention available for the concepts and procedures.

Related to ‘instant feedback’ is the general property of being FAST! When learners complete activities quickly, research shows that the entire process tends to stay in working memory … never making the transition to long-term memory. See O’Reilly (page 153), Leron and Hazzon “The Rationality Debate: Application of Cognitive Psychology to Mathematics Education” (see http://edu.technion.ac.il/Faculty/uril/Papers/Leron&Hazzan_Rationality_ESM_24.3.05.pdf#search=%22co and Kahneman “Maps Of Bounded Rationality: A Perspective On Intuitive Judgment And Choice” (see http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/economics/laureates/2002/kahnemannlecture.pdf#search=%22Maps%20of%20bounded%20rationality%3A%20A%20perspective%20on%20int) and O’Reilly’s chapter “The Division of Labor Between the Neocortex and Hippocampus” in Connectionist Models in Cognitive Psychology (edited by Houghton, George).

There is a point of view that advocates learning within a gaming environment, which might seem to contradict these statements. One distinction that might help understand the contrast is that of ‘awareness of learning’ — in many games, the learning takes placed without direct attention to the learning, meaning that the learner has less ability to explain (and transfer) that learning. We would hope that mathematical learning needs to be transferable, and we like to have learners who can explain what they have learned. I do believe that ‘instant feedback’ and ‘quick learning’ lowers the overall learning.

Why do I think this is important? Much of the current ‘movement’ in developmental mathematics involves intensive uses of online homework systems for their instant feedback and quickness. From a learning theory perspective, this is not a good thing. My prediction would be that students using these systems have even more surface processing and lack of transfer (of knowledge) than our old-fashion textbooks.

How should we design instruction for better learning? Just because feedback can be ‘instant’ does not mean that it’s best; learning support systems (homework) should design the speed of feedback based on parameters from research studies to facilitate deeper processing in the brain. These systems should also consider breaking up sets of problems to include other activities; a student who quickly completes 30 homework problems without a break might be processing only at the surface level … other learning processes within these sets can give the brain an opportunity to reconcile the new material with prior knowledge (a key step). As instructors, we can monitor the time on homework to encourage students to slow down, to even take short breaks in the middle.

Given that students may tend to be less patient than in prior periods, we need to pay deliberate attention to slowing things down. Part of this would be direct and honest statements to our students about how they can improve their learning and success in mathematics.

Developmental Mathematics Revival!

Bringing a new vitality to college mathematics 2011 to 2019