Feedback Literacy in Colombian High School Students: A Phenomenological Approach

This study aimed to understand 11th-grade students' experiences with feedback during the first thematic unit of the mathematics class. It was based on the theoretical model of feedback literacy and used a transcendental-phenomenological design to fulfill its purpose. The participants were seven students from a private school in Cali, Colombia. These students were in the first unit of the mathematics class and interviewed in depth. The data analysis had several phases: epoche, horizontalization and units of meaning, textural and structural description, and composite description. We found that students' relation to feedback was characterized by a predominantly passive-receptive role and an understanding of feedback as review, explanation, and performance improvement. In evaluative judgments, students reported that teacher feedback helped them become aware of mistakes, which motivates an immediate use of feedback to do math procedures well and ensure good grades. Also, they desire to have more self-assessment spaces to evaluate their strengths and weaknesses. Finally, regarding affection, students recognize that feedback to make them feel good requires an appropriate tone and saying the essential to understand and not make mistakes. We suggest researching student and teacher feedback literacy to understand better feedback process dynamics in high school classrooms.