Perceptions of feedback in mathematics" results from a preliminary investigation at three Australian universities

Feedback on learning is recognised as so important that it features on student evaluation of teaching surveys and on Australia's national Course Experience Questionnaire. Ideally, the student responses are then used to improve on practices. However, we argue that this process is flawed in first year mathematics. In this pilot study, we surveyed students enrolled in first year mathematics subjects at three Australian universities about their perceptions of feedback. Students were asked what they considered to be feedback in mathematics and what feedback they had received in their mathematics subject. In this study we compare these answers to the lecturers' views of what types of feedback were provided. We come to the conclusion that students enrolled in first year mathematics subjects perceive feedback very differently to their lecturers. This devalues the usefulness of questions about feedback on end-of semester surveys on the quality of teaching. We also question whether students may be missing out on accessing feedback that is intentionally provided to improve their learning.