2025 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Brief: Development of Feedback Literacy Through Reflections in Project-Based Learning Teams

Presented at ERM Technical Session: Developing Engineering Competencies III

This theory Research Brief paper aims to introduce an analysis of first-year students’ development of feedback literacy through written reflections. Written feedback is an important feature of the workplace and the higher education environment. In project-based learning environments, peer evaluation is a popular tool to encourage the development of professional skills in student teams. However, engineering students, especially in their first year of college, do not typically have training in writing effective feedback, which could compound interpretation challenges. Recognizing this problem, recent studies in higher education have created frameworks of feedback literacy to understand how students can effectively write, receive, and process feedback. Effective feedback has been shown to improve team dynamics, develop self-regulation behaviors, and support the development of other professional skills. This study details the selection of a framework for feedback literacy (Dawson et al., 2024) to analyze reflections written by first-year engineering students in response to peer feedback. The development of a codebook based on the framework is also detailed. This study extends theory from higher education to engineering education by introducing feedback literacy as an important prerequisite for behavioral change from peer evaluation.

Authors

Ms. Katherine Drinkwater Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University [biography]

Katie Drinkwater is PhD student in Engineering Education at Virginia Tech. She holds a bachelors degree in Mechanical Engineering from Duke University. Katie researches engineering design, teamwork, feedback literacy, engineering decision-making, extracurriculars, and women in engineering.
Olivia Ryan Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University [biography]

Olivia Ryan is a Ph.D. student in Engineering Education at Virginia Tech. She holds a B.S. in engineering with a specialization in electrical engineering from Roger Williams University. Her research interests include developing professional skills for engineering students and understanding mathematics barriers that exist within engineering.
Susan Sajadi Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University [biography]

Susan Sajadi is an assistant professor at Virginia Tech in the department of engineering education. She has a BS and MS in Biomedical Engineering and a Ph.D. in Engineering Education Systems and Design from Arizona State University. Prior, she worked as an engineer in the medical device industry.
Dr. Mark Vincent Huerta http://orcid.org/https:// 0000-0003-2962-0724 Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University [biography]

Dr. Huerta is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Engineering Education at Virginia Tech. He earned his PhD in Engineering Education Systems & Design at Arizona State University and has a BS/MS in Biomedical Engineering. His research group explores approaches to building positive and inclusive learning environments that support the professional growth of students and faculty within engineering education contexts. His research interests include graduate student mentorship, faculty development, mental health and well-being, teamwork and group dynamics, and the design of project-based learning classes.

Note

The full paper will be available to logged in and registered conference attendees once the conference starts on June 22, 2025, and to all visitors after the conference ends on June 25, 2025

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