Constructive feedback and the perceived impacts on learning and development by the learners’ genders

Abstract

BACKGROUND:

Constructive feedback has positively contributed to learning and development, especially for disengaged and underprivileged learners. The study examines whether the perceived impacts from constructive feedback are different between the male and female learners.

OBJECTIVE:

The objective is to assess whether there is a significant difference in the perception between the male and female learners in their response to constructive feedback. Three circumstances are under study-general feeling towards constructive feedback, perceived impacts on belongingness and happiness, and perceived impacts on the frequency of physical, verbal, and psychological bullying.

METHODS:

There are 482 learners who participated in the surveys, 185 male and 297 female learners. Statistical analysis is applied to gain more insights into the surveys. A follow-up small session is organized to enhance the findings.

RESULTS:

It appears that the impacts from constructive feedback on the learners’ genders are apparently minimal within the context of three circumstances. Thus, the perception of the learners who are disengaged and underprivileged is relatively comparable.

CONCLUSIONS:

The findings contribute to dealing with the disengaged learners in a workplace (and a school). Despite the insignificant difference based on the gender, other issues relating to design and delivery of constructive feedback should be further investigated.

Keywords

Human learning constructive feedback disengaged learners safe learning environment motivation and development

Dr. Bordin Rassameethes is the Associate Professor at Department of Technology and Operations Management, Faculty of Business Administration at Kasetsart University. Dr. Rassameethes is also the Acting Deputy Secretary General of Southern Border Provinces Administrative Centre, Thailand. He earned his Ph.D. from Vanderbilt University, MS. in Management from North Carolina State University and BS. in Computer Science from University of Miami, USA. His research background and expertise include management of technology, competitiveness and international management, cluster management, digital integration, rural informatic, and information community.

Dr. Kongkiti Phusavat is the Professor at Department of Industrial Engineering, Faculty of Engineering at Kasetsart University. He earned his master and doctoral degrees at Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and Sate University or Virginia Tech. His research background includes productivity, industrial psychology, human learning, workplace learning, learning and motivation, system design and development, and engineering education. Currently, he is the chairman of Education and Skills Committees of Joint Foreign Chambers of Commerce in Thailand.

Zbigniew Pastuszak, Ph.D., Associate Professor; Vice-rector for development and business cooperation and the head of the MIS/SCM Department, Maria Curie-Sklodowska University, Poland. He has been serving in various consulting and teaching posts for more than 28 years. Professor Pastuszak has drafted and participated in grants from the Polish Science Committee, and the EACEA related to Polish competition in e-business, e-readiness, and multichannel logistics. He is the author of more than 90 international publications. Dr. Pastuszak serves as the Editor in Chief for the International Journal of Management and Enterprise Development and the International Journal of Value Creation Management.

Dr. Achmad Nizar Hidayanto is the professor in Information Systems at the Faculty of Computer Science, Universitas Indonesia. He is also a Vice Dean for Resources, Venture, and General Administration. He received his bachelor’s degree, master’s degree and PhD degrees in computer science from Universitas Indonesia in 1999, 2002, and 2008 respectively. His research interests are related to e-health, information systems/information technology management, e-commerce, e-government, information systems security, and information systems/information technology adoption. His email is “nizar@cs.ui.ac.id.”

Jukka Majava (D.Sc., Tech.) is the Associate Professor in Industrial Engineering and Management at the University of Oulu, Finland. His industrial experience includes technology and ecosystem marketing, product and service development, project management, and business and supply chain development at Nokia Corporation. He has research interests in operations and supply chain management, innovation, learning, and business networks. His email is “Jukka.Majava@oulu.fi.”

1 Introduction

There are many important factors that have led to an effective human management system. The primary aim for a human-management system is to achieve an objective of an enterprise (or an entity, a work unit, or a workplace) by maximizing the workforce’s performance [1]. Thus, workplace learning becomes essential for an enterprise’s long-term success and competitiveness. In the era of Industry 4.0, learning is now recognized as part of work. In other words, for business environment today, work consists of performing and completing a task as well as learning to improve this task [2, 3].

A worker in a new workplace is currently referred to as a learning worker [1 , 5]. This term highlights the shift from knowledge to learning which reflects a premise that a worker is faced with more complex and complicated challenges when trying to complete his or her task. As a result, it is difficult for an enterprise to prepare and train a worker for all challenges. Instead, it needs to facilitate and support how a worker can learn and adapt. The reason is that learning is a foundation to help a worker accumulate needed knowledge. Being able to understand emerging situations, see patterns, and co-solve problems are the skills needed in a workplace [6 –8]. Simply put, learning is now regarded as part of the work and work itself involves learning [1, 4].

Learning and development of a learner (or a learning worker) is influenced by many factors such as engagement, safe learning environment, sense of belongingness, motivation, etc. Disengagement in a workplace has caused higher absenteeism, workplace disruptions, poorer work quality, more accidents, lower productivity, and subsequently lower performance [9 –11]. Feedback has played an important role in learning and development of the individuals [9, 12]. Based on the 70-20-10 concept, the individuals tend to learn 70% of their knowledge and skills to perform the task from hands-on experiences, challenging experiences, and constant internal feedback in a workplace [13 –15]. Also, the 20% proportion of learning stems from informal channels such as peer feedback and interactions. Only the 10% proportion is based on formal training and education which are considered as a reaction to a problem that a worker (or a group of workers) has had to deal with.

1.1 Problem background

Despite its promising effects on learning and development, the insights into the design and delivery of constructive feedback are needed [12 , 15]. The important issues such as how constructive feedback results in an increase of motivation, what contents should constitute constructive feedback, how constructive feedback is viewed by the learners’ genders (or whether the genders play an important role in the perception of constructive feedback and its impacts), etc. [12 , 17]. These issues that relate to constructive feedback can potentially profound effects on long-term development of workplace learning. This is due to the notion that constructive feedback needs to be tailored-made to various characteristics of the learners [14 , 19].

Hence, this research problem is based on the following premise. It is generally accepted that constructive feedback contributes to better interactions and engagement in a workplace [5, 14]. The reason is that these interactions and engagement positively influence higher secure or safe feeling about a workplace. This safe feeling is a foundation for long-term workplace learning [14, 20]. This notion has been supported by many recent studies due to the emerging importance of learning workers today. Despite of widespread support on more integration of constructive feedback in a workplace, the fundamental challenge is its design and development as well as delivery to the needed learners [8, 21].

To help tackle this challenge, one important aspect that should be clarified is the learners’ genders in a workplace [12 , 22]. The reason is that constructive feedback should be designed in a way that it fits with the learners [19, 22]. The contents for specific groups such as male and female learners, engaged and disengaged learners, motivated and unmotivated learners, and normal and slow learners should thoroughly be carefully examined. Therefore, a gender sensitive approach should be explored and examined for the design of constructive feedback.

Apparently, there is neither explicit research nor specific examination into the effects of constructive feedback on the gender’s perception and possible implications among disengaged learners [23, 24]. However, there have been some gender-related studies on how performance evaluation is viewed and utilized in accordance with the two genders [23, 25]. It is important to note that feedback is to be considered as performance evaluation/ appraisal. Performance evaluation/ appraisal is a formalized activity and needs to be documented. On the other hand, feedback can be less formal and does not have to be necessarily performance related. Thus, feedback, like information, should be frequently communicated and shared.

It is also important to underline the following. When these results were earlier presented to the senior BMA administrators, it was suggested that the genders of the learners should be investigated, especially with respect to those who had been actively engaged by FBC. The reason was due to the need for better design and integration of constructive feedback into teaching and learning. Is there any significant difference relating to its impacts on the gender of the learners? Are there any specific types of constructive feedback that the policy planners and the teachers should be more sensitive to when dealing with male and female learners?

1.2 Objective

The objective of this study is to assess whether there is a significant difference in the perception between the two genders in their response to constructive feedback. Three circumstances are under study-general feeling towards the contributions of constructive feedback, perceived impacts of constructive feedback on belongingness and happiness, and perceived impacts of constructive feedback on the frequency of physical, verbal, and psychological bullying and harassment. The research is expected to help the design of more tailored-made constructive feedback to sustain effective workplace learning.

2 Literature review

The discussion in this section consists of three areas. The first area relates to the importance of feedback for workplace learning. A workplace is considered as a human-related system since it consists of workforce, equipment and instruments, technology, information, space, others [1 , 21]. The human-related system usually aims to achieve an objective of an enterprise (or an entity, a work unit, or a workplace) by maximizing the workforce’s performance. For this study, to achieve high performance requires continuous learning and development among learning workers. It is important to point out that improving the human-related system has traditionally included the applications from several academic disciplines such as psychology (e.g., psychological safety and physical well-being), management (e.g., motivation and engagement), engineering (e.g., use of digital technology and work standards) [26, 27].

Many behavioral models have been developed to improve the effectiveness of a human-related system. For instance, when introducing new technology into a workplace, Technology Acceptance Model has been widely used to recognize the factors that can lead to acceptance and subsequently use of technology [21, 26]. Another model is called the Double Loop Learning. This model highlights the importance of feedback for motivating a learner. Many types of feedback are mentioned which includes internal and external feedback, positive and negative feedback, etc. Constructive feedback from an external entity or source is used when feedback is deemed to be encouraging and supportive [28 –30].

The second area is the roles of the gender in a workplace. The gender-related issues in a workplace deal with governance and transparency, learning and development, motivation, behavior, and fairness and career development [12 , 22]. Currently, many organizations recognize the importance of the genders since this inclusiveness has added positive value to an organization. As a result, learning and its relationship with a workplace’s gender have gained more attention during the past decade.

The transition of a workplace into the era of Industry 4.0 has also contributed to more attention to the genders, especially how learning and development may differ between the male and female learners when being engaged with constructive feedback. Today, training is viewed to be reactive through a problem or a challenge facing a workplace which helps accelerate the notion that learning is part of work [1, 4]. Specifically, how each gender learns (especially when dealing with constructive feedback, including their perception towards safe learning environment, sense of happiness and belongingness, and fear of learning through bullying and harassment) is crucial for continuous workplace learning. Some of the interests relating to constructive feedback is due to diverse factors (e.g., emotion, behavior, etc.) between the two genders which may affect the design and delivery of constructive feedback.

How the male and female learners view constructive feedback, and its impacts represents an important next step for engagement and communication. The reason is that perceived unsafe learning environment affects the inability to express openly, being afraid to raise an idea, bullying, harassment, and violence which are often cited as a major roadblock to workplace learning [31 –33]. Thus, encouraging continuous learning and development as well as motivating learning workers in a workplace for an era of Industry 4.0 become essential for long-term business success [1, 33].

The third area is the similarity between a workplace and a school. Workplace and school share many similar goals and characteristics [14 , 33]. Performing the tasks while learning how to improve these tasks typically take place at both workplace and school. Typically, a student is often referred to as a learner at school. At the same time, in a workplace, the term learning worker has been used to describe a worker. Both workplace and school also experience many comparable changes over the years. For instance, one-way lecture (or learning by listening, reading, and observing) is no longer practiced. Likewise, learning by training (or by e-Learning) has been less in a workplace due to the belief that a worker has the talent to learn. Informal learning (e.g., user-generated contents) has been more prevalent in both places-school and workplace. Facilitating learning in a workplace (or at school) becomes a priority today [34, 35]. Furthermore, social ladder in a school and social climbing in a workplace show a strong similarity and comparability.

Unfortunately, both workplace and school also have comparable symptoms which affect learning and development [35, 36]. These symptoms include bullying and harassment which contribute to unsafe learning environment. Physical safety deals with the protection of the workers and the students alike from physical harm such as hitting, smacking, slapping, punching, kicking, hair pulling, and suffocating. On the other hand, for psychological safety, it indicates a situation where a person (i.e., a learner at school or a learning worker at workplace) feels or believes that he or she could be punished or reprimanded when speaking up, voicing an opinion, asking a question, and making a mistake. In other words, if a person can bring up an idea or a suggestion without being fearful or feeling embarrassed, then this workplace or school is safe psychologically. A lack of both physical and psychological safety impacts learning and development of a learner [34, 36].

3 Method 1

The research method consists of three stages. The research has adapted a school for a workplace. The study on learning and development at the two schools took place in 2016 (and is still taking place). The first stage deals with the preparation with teachers and feedback design. The second stage involves the implementations of what has been previously planned in the first stage. The third stage uses a survey to help gain more insights whether there is significant difference from the perception of the learners’ genders when being engaged with constructive feedback. When dealing with the perception, trust, and feeling, the duration of a study is important to help ensure the credibility and the actual impacts [37].

Preparing a collaboration between an external entity (i.e., a foreign business community in Thailand, to be referred to as FBC) and two local-government schools (under Bangkok Metropolitan Administration or BMA) was the primary task for the first stage. It is important to note that BMA students are generally regarded as disengaged and underprivileged. Their parents are mostly the daily-wage earners and need to constantly migrant to different sites and locations for work. Poverty, lack of safety and security, harassment and bullying, low self-esteem and motivation, and low academic achievement are commonly associated with BMA students. When completing the first stage in early 2017, it was deemed that science learning along with business and life skills would entice the attention from these learners. This would (hopefully) replace fear of learning with joy of learning. Fear of learning reflects a lack of psychological and physical safety for the learners (or the students) as it reflects a critical roadblock for learning and development.

During this first stage, there are two types of needs (brought up the teachers and the learners) which require FBC’s participation. The first need is the opportunity for the students to conduct experimental learning. Experimental learning represents a process of learning through experience and/or hands-on activities. The planned lessons on science experiments, which reflects the collaboration between BMA schools and FBC, focus primarily on developing new products (e.g., fertilizer from food waste, fresh produces and vegetables, soap and detergents, etc.). The aims from these experiments are: (1) to allow the learners to earn extra incomes from sales of these products, (2) to let the learners openly interact with each other through a common goal-extra income, and (3) to integrate outdoor activities into science experiments.

Product development from science experiments has many advantages. FBC can actively engage with the learners by sharing the thoughts and ideas on products. Secondly, since a common need among the learners is an extra income, product development can entice the learners’ interests and galvanize their interactions. This opportunity also allows continuous improvements for successive classes in the subsequent years. This is important since the credibility of an intervention for learning and development needs to reflect repeated observations from the same intervention. For this first need, FBC was primarily responsible for providing needed instruments for outdoor experiments such as knock-down vegetable growing table, micro-organism/ bio-fermented water, soil and water measuring instrument, etc.

The second need is referred to (by the learners and teachers) as emotional support. This support reflects continuous constructive feedback which would help add confidence to the learners. Two primary issues that need FBC’s involvement for this need- are we doing things right and are we doing the right thing? The concept of Double-loop Learning is adapted [28, 38]. Many types of FBC’s feedback include tangible (e.g., certificate of participation, etc.) and intangible or non-verbal (such as school visits, workshops for product improvement, events for display and sale of science products, etc.). The emotional support aims to reassure, encourage, support, and validate the actions and changes by the learners. Thus, FBC’s feedback is to be constructive by encouraging needed changes for the learners.

For this second stage, many products from outdoor experiment learning include fertilizers from water hyacinth, food wastes from school and fresh markets nearby, and dry leaves which were frequently burned for disposal. Simply, water hyacinth, food waste, and dry leaves contributed to water and air pollution. The sale of fertilizer has generated considerable incomes to the learners since many companies that belong to FBC view the purchase of these products as part of their corporate social responsibility. Continuous engagement and interactions during outdoor experimental learning have enhanced the learners’ sense of belongingness and created safe learning environment.

For the third stage, the survey is applied to help to assess whether there is a significant difference in the response between the two genders when being engaged with constructive feedback. The survey’s items are based on the questionnaire developed by Thailand’s Office of Basic Education Commission together with Raks Thai Foundation- “Student Act to Stop Bullying in Schools and on Social Media.” This is one of the widely used surveys to assess safe learning environment in a country. The survey has been continuously used when conducting research in the areas of school safety and bullying due to its acceptance and simplicity (to understand by a respondent) [38, 39]. Statistical analyses are used to help interpret the perception of the male and female learners from those who have taken part in FBC’s involvement in science experiments.

Finally, it is important to reiterate that this study is an extension from the previous work which shows positive influences of constructive feedback on enticing interests from the learners who had interacted with FBC. These interests have led to significantly better learning and higher motivation which are essential on personal development. The learners from this FBC and school partnership are considered as disengaged and underprivileged. Furthermore, it is important to underline that constructive feedback (from FBC) has significantly contributed to higher sense of safety, belongingness, and happiness among the engaged learners.

In addition, constructive feedback significantly helped lower perceived unsafe learning environment, especially physical and verbal bullying/ harassment among the engaged learners. In the previous findings, cyber bullying was included in a survey study but did not appear to be impacted by constructive feedback. Thus, cyber bullying was not included when focusing the gender difference.

The survey was formatted in the Google Form and was later sent to the two teachers (Mr. Apichart Intha and Mr. Weeraphong Pimsarn) for handling which included distribution and gathering. The participants were asked and could choose not to participate. It is important to reiterate that the study is an extension from the previous survey. On the other hand, the analysis is different. In this manuscript, the in-depth analysis on the survey’s responses was conducted only with the learners who had been familiarized with FBC. The reason is that, from the previous findings, the impacts on learning and motivation were significant between those learners who has interacted with FBC and those who did not. Thus, the study mainly focused on only the group of the learners who had interacted with FBC with the emphasis on the gender effects.

Thus, the analysis primarily focuses on the group of 482 students who had experienced and had been engaged with constructive feedback from FBC 2 . Out of 482 learners, 185 survey participants are male while the remaining 297 learners are female. Statistical analysis is conducted to help determine a possible significant difference between the two genders [36]. A follow-up session with a small group of former and current BMA learners is organized to seek more clarity on the findings which include the next steps for constructive feedback.

4 Results

Table 1
General feeling towards the contributions of constructive feedback from FBC

Feeling based on Specific Constructive Feedback Male Learners n = 185 Female Learners n = 297 t-test

Average Value S.D Average Value S.D

[1] Sufficient engagement and exchange on non-academic progress 2.63 1.261 2.68 1.254 – 0.223

[2] Sufficient recognition on progress and achievement 2.52 1.105 2.92 1.061 – 2.285*

[3] Feeling of acceptance on progress and achievement 2.44 1.188 2.42 1.046 0.138

[4] Being part of school’s activities 2.38 1.211 2.27 1.196 0.574

[5] Sufficient opportunity to illustrate progress and achievement inside a school 2.65 1.194 2.82 1.029 – 0.961

[6] Sufficient opportunity to illustrate progress and achievement outside a school 2.54 1.242 2.56 1.149 – 0.107

[7] Being sufficiently engaged with purchase of products from science experiments 2.43 1.228 2.37 1.169 0.305

[8] Sufficient opportunity to work with an external entity to improve products and other inventions 2.71 1.288 2.61 1.145 0.539

[9] Sufficient support from an external entity to extend products and other inventions 2.73 1.260 2.45 1.104 1.493

Overall Results 2.56 1.011 2.57 0.836 – 0.04

Feeling based on Specific Constructive Feedback	Male Learners n = 185	Female Learners n = 297	t-test
[1] Sufficient engagement and exchange on non-academic progress	2.63	1.261	2.68	1.254	– 0.223
[2] Sufficient recognition on progress and achievement	2.52	1.105	2.92	1.061	– 2.285*
[3] Feeling of acceptance on progress and achievement	2.44	1.188	2.42	1.046	0.138
[4] Being part of school’s activities	2.38	1.211	2.27	1.196	0.574
[5] Sufficient opportunity to illustrate progress and achievement inside a school	2.65	1.194	2.82	1.029	– 0.961
[6] Sufficient opportunity to illustrate progress and achievement outside a school	2.54	1.242	2.56	1.149	– 0.107
[7] Being sufficiently engaged with purchase of products from science experiments	2.43	1.228	2.37	1.169	0.305
[8] Sufficient opportunity to work with an external entity to improve products and other inventions	2.71	1.288	2.61	1.145	0.539
[9] Sufficient support from an external entity to extend products and other inventions	2.73	1.260	2.45	1.104	1.493
Overall Results	2.56	1.011	2.57	0.836	– 0.04

Note: *Significance at the 0.05 level (the values not between – 1.9746 < t < 1.9746).

From the previous study (as well as other research), constructive feedback entices the interests and attention of these learners (who otherwise would not have paid attention or participated in school’s lessons and activities). The survey’s participants are the learners from the two BMA schools. The learners are the current and former students. It is important to point out that the primary assumption is the compatibility of learning and motivation between school and workplace. For more details, there are 37 former students out of 185 male learners. There are 61 former students out of 297 female learners. None of the survey participants is older than 22 years old while the age of the current students are between 16–18 years old (from Grade 10, 11, and 12 respectively). Note that there is no question in the survey that asks a participant to categorize him/herself as passive or active as a learner.

The current study extends the use of the existing survey’s data with the focus on the gender impacts within the context of the learners who had interacted with FBC. This extension is requested by school administrators after constructive feedback by an external entity has positive impacts on learning and motivation significantly. Thereby, an in-depth analysis is conducted to examine only the data from those who experienced interactions with FBC.

The survey focuses on three subjects. The first subject is General Feeling towards the Contributions of Constructive Feedback from FBC. The second subject represents Perceived Impacts of Constructive Feedback on Belongingness and Happiness during a Lesson/ experiment and at School. The third subject reflects Perceived Impacts of Constructive Feedback on the Frequency of Physical, Verbal, and Psychological Bullying and Harassment.

For the first subject, the results illustrate the following. It appears that, based on an overall score, there is no significant difference based on the two genders. Only one specific circumstance (i.e., receiving constructive feedback contributes to the feeling of sufficient recognition on progress and achievement) shows a meaningful difference with the higher frequency expressed by the female learners.

For the second subject, based on an overall score, there is no significant difference between the two genders (after active engagement with FBC) when examining the perceived impacts of constructive feedback on belongingness and happiness (during a lesson/ experiment and at school). Thus, neither male nor female learners view the perceived impacts from constructive feedback differently.

Specifically, only two issues (relating to happiness and belongingness) show the significant difference with the higher level of frequency from the female learners. These issues are as follows. Constructive feedback contributes to my happiness during work and academic activities (that a learner forgets about time). And constructive feedback provides better sense of belongingness by sharing stories with friends.

Table 2

Perceived impacts of constructive feedback on belongingness and happiness during a lesson/ experiment and at school

Circumstance facing a Learner during Lectures/experiments at School	Male Learners n = 185		Female Learners n = 297		t-test
	Average Value	S.D	Average Value	S.D
[1] I am happy with my work and activities so that I forget about time.	2.27	0.802	2.43	0.848	–2.092*
[2] I can concentrate with assignments and tasks.	2.31	0.792	2.31	0.701	–0.024
[3] If I intend to complete my assignment and task, I can complete it.	2.72	0.889	2.79	0.885	–0.831
[4] I feel that I reach my personal goals.	2.79	0.975	2.91	1.002	–1.255
[5] I am energized and enthusiastic to begin a day.	2.60	0.886	2.58	0.909	0.248
[6] I often feel that I can tell good things that have happened to me to friends.	2.71	1.108	3.01	1.164	–2.771*
[7] When I am faced with a problem, I have friends with me.	2.68	0.946	2.83	1.129	–1.632
[8] I feel that friends are genuinely concerned about my well-being.	2.79	1.105	2.88	1.092	–0.905
[9] I feel cheerful and often laugh easily.	3.08	1.120	3.20	1.103	–1.216
[10] I have positive outlook with my life.	2.86	1.117	2.80	1.081	0.652
Overall Results	2.68	0.646	2.77	0.672	–1.503

Note: *Significance at the 0.05 level (the values not between – 1.9649 < t < 1.9649).

Table 3

Perceived impacts of constructive feedback on the frequency of physical, verbal, and psychological bullying and harassment

Circumstance facing a Learner during Lectures/experiments at School	Male Learners n = 185		Female Learners n = 297		t-test
	Average Value	S.D	Average Value	S.D
[1] I am verbally abused, ridiculed, and harassed which contribute to my despair during a lesson.	2.16	1.116	2.00	0.928	1.687
[2] I am ignored and prevented from class discussion, group participation, and play.	1.48	0.767	1.35	0.667	1.865
[3] I am afraid of being physically attacked or feel isolated in a classroom.	1.44	0.820	1.27	0.650	2.399*
[4] Somebody makes up a story or a rumor about me and tries to spread it to others.	1.46	0.752	1.42	0.703	0.7
[5] I have money or personal belongings taken or stolen from me.	1.35	0.700	1.47	0.784	–1.654
[6] I am harassed or am forced to perform a task against my will.	1.38	0.793	1.29	0.691	1.284
[7] I am verbally abused or ridiculed due to my appearance, sexual preference, academic ability which contribute to my reluctance to go to school.	1.46	0.808	1.58	0.823	–1.493
Overall Results	1.54	0.580	1.48	0.547	1.013

Note: *Significance at the 0.05 level (the values not between – 1.9649 < t < 1.9649).

For the third subject, the findings are like the previous two areas. There is no significant difference in how a male and female learner feels about their safety after and during FBC’s engagement. In other words, the difference in the gender of the learners does not change how they have perceived the impacts of constructive feedback on the frequency of physical, verbal, and psychological bullying and harassment. For the specific result, only one unsafe issue (i.e., ‘I am afraid of being physically attacked or feel isolated in a classroom.’) appears to show a significant difference between the two genders. Apparently, male learners feel a higher frequency than female counterparts considerably when dealing with physical abuse (despite being engaged with constructive feedback).

Based on the three subjects, apparently, the design and development of constructive feedback does not necessarily need to focus on the learner’s genders. The primary reason is that the perceived impacts, after being engaged with constructive feedback, are not dependent on the learners’ genders. The survey findings illustrate that male and female learners view the constructive feedback’s positive benefits are generally alike or comparable (or are not significantly different or noticeable).

Simply put, from the surveys’ findings, out of 26 issues (from the three subjects), only three issues show the significant difference in a score between the two genders. The female learners feel that constructive feedback contributed to sufficient recognition on progress and achievement more than their male counterparts. For the feeling of belongingness and happiness, constructive feedback contributes to a higher score for the female learners on the willingness to share their sentiment with peers/ friends and the joy of learning through experiments. For the perceived frequency of bullying and harassment, only the issue relating the feeling of being afraid for physical altercation shows the significant difference in a score (with the male learners express a higher perceived frequency).

5 Discussion

From the previous work (which is extended by this study on the genders’ perception), external feedback has positive impacts on enticing the interests from underprivileged and disengaged learners. This notion of the perceived positive impacts of constructive feedback on improved safe learning environment is supported by several previous studies [34 , 43]. The reason is that constructive feedback points to active engagement and continuous communication with the learners. For instance, being recognized for the work (that the learners at two BMA schools have performed during science experiments) has positive psychological implications. Continuous constructive feedback would continue this positive effect and would also lead to better learning and development of the learners in a more sustainable manner [34 , 43].

For this study, Initially, the prevalent belief between FBC and BMA’s teachers and school administrators alike supposed that the gender needed to be examined to refine constructive feedback. This improvement comprises many issues [29 , 41]. The first issue is the types of conversations (e.g., avoiding making a comparison between or among the learners, and simple feedback through repeated observations with an avoidance of interpretation and analysis). The second issue deals with the methods of engagements (e.g., face-to-face discussion on a situation and not personal attributes or issues, and avoiding a use of email, text message, and/or a phone call for communication). Another important issue is the delivery styles (e.g., providing a combination of positive and improvement remarks, and a balance between listening to a learner’s comments and providing feedback).

On the contrary to the prevailing beginning, a learner’s gender does not appear to significantly influence on the perception of positive impacts from constructive feedback. In other words, the gender does not necessarily affect a response and a perception of a learner to constructive feedback. For the three subjects which are expectedly affected by constructive feedback (i.e., Feeling towards Constructive Feedback, Feeling of Belongingness, and Happiness during a Lesson/ experiment and at School, and Perceived Frequency of Physical, Verbal, and Psychological Bullying and Harassment), there is no significant difference based on the learners’ genders.

The follow-up session was arranged by the two previously mentioned science teachers with 10 learners- 8 current and 2 former students at school. Five male (4 current and one former) and five female (4 current and one former) learners participated in the session. The session was a half-day with open-ended discussion. Storytelling could be best described about the nature of this session. This is part of ongoing dialogues and communication between FBC and current/ former BMA students. During the small session, the focus was on sharing the findings and asking for their thoughts and opinions on the survey’s results, especially the insignificant impacts on the gender. Gathering their ideas from this session helps enhance academic interpretation and discussion of the survey’s findings.

Based on the follow-up session with a small group of current and former BMA learners, many valuable comments are expressed which potentially explain the rationale for the perceived indifference (of constructive feedback) based on the gender of the learners. Some of the highlights from this session can be illustrated as follows. The first comment is that, when dealing with poverty, hardship, and negligence during their school years; all learners need emotional support (regardless of the gender). This unique context of being underprivileged and disconnected feeling with learning and development might have contribute to this indifference [33 , 44]. These leaners (in this FBC-BMA schools’ partnership since 2016) desperately focus on being able to survive. Thus, they are simply grateful with constructive feedback which was the necessity (from their viewpoint). With this need, the possibility of the influence by the gender difference may not matter.

The second comment is that, due to their background, the learners feel that they have nothing (i.e., feeling despair and sense of desperation due to the uncertainty in their livelihood) so constructive feedback represents hope (feeling of optimism) which is what they really seek [33 , 45]. Probably, considering their age (between 16– 18 years old), self-defeated mindset with a lack of confidence and positive outlook after completing high school. Constructive feedback is badly needed to help bring about the positive changes in behavior during and after school and peer interactions. Because of this premise, it is likely that the perception of constructive feedback is not significant different between the male and female learners.

5.1 Implications

The discussion of the Herzberg’s Two-factor Theory is added for the following purpose. The reason for integrating with this theory (which states that there are two factors that affect an individual’s motivation and development- hygiene factor which cause dissatisfaction and motivator which raise the level of satisfaction) is that motivation to learn has been an essential part of the FBC collaboration. In fact, there is positive relationship between feedback and motivation of a learner. Thus, it is very important constructive feedback needs to be viewed from the motivational standpoint [16, 42].

Thus, the Herzberg’s Two-factor Theory is adapted to help explain the reasons for insignificant impacts when comparing the male and female learners who felt disengaged and were underprivileged. When discussing the findings with some of the survey’s participants, that if the hygiene factors cannot be tackled for the learners, then a more complex issue such as gender’s perception and impact may not be relevant [46, 47]. Feeling of safety needs to be physically and psychologically assured to this group of learners [22 , 31]. This feeling is secured through constant engagement and feedback. Thus, the next research on constructive feedback should focus on ensuring that the critical hygiene factors for learning, motivation, and development are confronted and removed. In other words, overcoming fear of learning and assuring safe learning environment need to be prioritized before the gender’s perception on constructive feedback can be revisited.

Interestingly, from the context of the motivator, when dealing with the group of learners who have been constantly engaged, constructive feedback can possibly be perceived as a factor that increases the level of satisfaction among the learners. Simply put, the perceived effects of constructive feedback could be dependent on the position of a learner whether his or her viewpoint belongs to hygiene factors or motivators. This is an interesting issue that should be further investigated for the design and delivery of constructive feedback.

Furthermore, from the viewpoint of the underprivileged and disengaged learners, constructive feedback provides an opportunity for them to shift from being disengaged to more active and productive learners [8 , 14]. This shift is important for long-term school and eventually workplace learning which is badly needed for Industry 4.0 [25 , 31]. Shifting a learner (at school or at a workplace) from disengaged to non-engaged and eventually engaged person is probably one of many important obligations [29, 46].

To further extend constructive feedback within the context of human systems management, it is essential that to relate learning with the 70-20-10 concept. This concept represents a framework for learning and development of an individual or a learner. A learner typically acquire skills and knowledge as follows- a proportion of 70% from hands-on experiences with active engagement, a proportion of 20% from interactions with others through feedback and engagement, and a proportion of 10% from formalized education such as in-house training programs [14, 48].

It is possible that the success of a possible shift of a learner could arise from effective use of constructive feedback which is part of the much greater part of skill and knowledge acquisition. The 70-20-10 concept indicates the importance of continuing a study on design and delivery of constructive feedback. Even though the preliminary findings from underprivileged and disengaged learners show the insignificant difference perceived by the two genders, future research can focus on additional groups such as the learners who feel engaged at school or the leaners who has enjoyed the feeling of safe learning environment at school. Finally, the initial findings appear that planning and preparation of the contents of constructive feedback as well as how it is delivered to the learners can overlook the gender issue in a school or a workplace. The perception of the learners who are disengaged and underprivileged on the impacts of constructive feedback is relatively comparable.

6 Conclusion

The study extends the previous research on constructive feedback and its perceived effects on learning and development of the underprivileged and disengaged learners. Learning and development are critical for effective management of a human system such as an organization, a workplace, a school, etc. In this earlier study, constructive feedback appears to have positive impacts on learning and development by creating safer learning environment. This can be attributed to more continuous attention, communication, and engagement from FBC. As a result, the focus in this extended study is on whether constructive feedback has the similar or different impacts on the learners based on the gender.

Based on the surveys’ findings the impacts from constructive feedback on the learners’ genders are apparently minimal and insignificant within the context of safe learning environment, happiness, and belongingness. With the follow-up session in a small group with former and current BMA learners, this insignificant impact could be attributed to their status as underprivileged and disengaged. Thereby, constructive feedback is regarded as must-have for this type of a learner.

Hence, the gender may not be deemed to be critical since their livelihood become the priority. Finally, further understanding and insights are needed to help strengthen the design and delivery of constructive feedback. The reason is that, based on the 70-20-10 concept, feedback is an integral part of the 90% proportion of learning and how an individual acquires knowledge and skills in a workplace.

Footnotes

It is important to point out this research is an extension of the work published by Phusavat, K., Pastuszak, Z., Hidayanto, A., Majava, J. (2022), “Feedback and human learning: Preliminary insights from disengaged students”, Human Systems Management, Vol. 41, pp. 17-25

In the previous publication, there were a total of 686 learners participated in the study (which reflects the partnership between FBC and two BMA schools since 2016). Out of 686 learners, 204 persons belonged to the category that had no interaction with FBC. The remaining 482 learners were engaged with FBC. Within this group, there are current and former learners (who earlier graduated from a school).

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