Computer-based feedback and goal intervention: learning effects

This study investigated how a goal intervention influences the learning effects gained from feedback when acquiring concepts and rules pertaining to the topic of descriptive statistics. Three feedback conditions; knowledge of correct response feedback (KCRF), principle-based feedback (PBF), and no-feedback (NF), were crossed with two goal conditions; goal and no goal, to form six experimental conditions. Learning was measured by comparing correct answer performance, among the experimental conditions, on the second and third administration of a 24-item multiple-choice test. The four groups who received feedback (KCRF and PBF) performed significantly better on tests two and three than those who had not received feedback. However, group performance on tests two and three did not differ between the PBF and KCRF conditions. More importantly, although the goal intervention had little influence for the KCRF and NF conditions, those participants who were given PBF performed significantly better on test three when given a goal intervention than when not given a goal intervention.