Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Informal feedback'

Thesis (Ph. D. (Communication management))--University of Pretoria, 2005.
Summaries in English and Afrikaans. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 348-368). Available on the Internet via the World Wide Web.

This study assessed the knowledge structure of undergraduate participants related to previously determined critical concepts of Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) by using Pathfinder networks. Three domain experts’ knowledge structures regarding the same concepts were also elicited and averaged to create a referent knowledge structure. The referent knowledge structure served as a basis for formative feedback. Then, each participant’s knowledge structure was compared with the referent structure to identify common, missing, and extraneous links between the two networks. Each participant was provided with individualized written and visual, and multi-media feedback through an online Concept Mapping tool based on the principals of formative assessment and feedback in an attempt to increase their conceptual knowledge of ANOVA. The study was conducted with 67 undergraduate participants from a mid-size university in the United States. Participants completed two data collection tools related to the critical concepts of ANOVA. Later, three different types of feedback around the critical concepts were given to participants in three stages. First, each participant was given visual feedback as a result of the comparison between their own knowledge structures and the referent knowledge structure to highlight similarities and differences between the two. Then, participants were provided with individualized written and multi-media feedback to emphasize conceptual understanding behind ANOVA procedures. This procedure was followed by the re-assessment of participants’ reasoning ability related to ANOVA and knowledge structures related to critical concepts to measure the effect of the intervention. Results suggest that participants both in control and intervention groups had the same level of statistics experience and anxiety before this study indicating that randomization of participants into two different groups was successful. Moreover, women participants reported a statistically significant higher level of statistics anxiety than men, however, it seems that this small difference did not limit their ability to perform required statistical tasks. Further, findings revealed that participants’ conceptual knowledge related to critical concepts of ANOVA increased significantly after the individualized feedback. However, the increase in the conceptual understanding did not help participants to transform this knowledge into more formal understanding related to procedures underlying ANOVA. Moreover, even though, previous similar studies suggest that participants are consistent in using a single strategy for making inferential reasoning across datasets, in the present study, qualitative data analysis revealed that statistics learners demonstrate diverse patterns of inferential reasoning strategies when they were provided with different size of datasets each with varying amount of variability. As a result, findings support the use of an extended framework for describing and measuring the development of participants’ reasoning ability regarding consideration of variation in statistics education.

Informal classroom walk-throughs conducted by school principals with feedback provided to teachers has been demonstrated to improve learning achievement in kindergarten through twelfth grade (K-12) education. Principals are often trained by experts to conduct these walk-throughs. Unfortunately, research shows that experts may omit up to 70% of the critical information needed by trainees to replicate their expertise. The purpose of this study was to capture the knowledge and skills expert K-12 principals use when they conduct informal classroom walk-throughs and provide feedback to teachers. Cognitive Task Analysis (CTA) semi-structured interviews were conducted with three principals who were qualified as experts using both qualitative and quantitative measures. Action and decision steps, as well as standards, equipment, and conceptual knowledge from individual subject matter experts (SMEs) were captured and aggregated into a gold standard protocol which was reviewed by a fourth expert. The study also sought to identify and quantify the number and percentage of expert knowledge and skills omissions when the principals described how they conducted classroom walk-throughs and provided feedback to teachers. Findings indicate that expert principals omitted an average of 54.76% of the action and decision steps when compared to the gold standard protocol. This study extends the potential negative effects of relying on experts for instruction and curriculum development. The expert knowledge and skills captured by CTA methods may be used to train pre-service and in-service principals in performing the complex instructional leadership task of informal walk-throughs and providing feedback to teachers, which may ultimately improve teachers' classroom instruction and student achievement.

In 2008 a new educational initiative termed “School without segregation” was implemented in Iceland. Its goal was to ensure that all children would be provided with education suited to individual variations in social and educational needs. Coinciding with this policy initiative a new technology strategy was implemented in the municipality of Kópavogur, Iceland´s second largest city, with the aim to equip children to deal with the fundamental technological changes in modern society and integrate technology in their education. As an integral part of this strategy all students in Kópavogur, from the fifth to the tenth grade were given iPads in 2015. The affected population was approximately 4.700 students and over 450 teachers. A significant body of research has examined how students fare when technology is integrated into their education. However, this thesis aims to examine how the implementation of this tablet-centric initiative affected the working environment of the municipality´s teachers, a subject that has been researched to a much lesser extent. With the aid of personal interviews communication between stakeholders of the initiative, strategies to motivate and encourage teachers in dealing with the change in their working environment and support afforded during the process was examined. Special focus was placed on the extent of involvement and participation of teachers during the implementation and the question of whether teachers´ opinions had an impact throughout the process. The thesis analysis is based on 18 semi-formal interviews with teachers from all of the city´s nine schools. Additionally, the team in charge of leading the implementation was interviewed to further broaden the scope. In brief, the thesis highlights that contention surrounded various aspects of the implementation. Many of the teachers felt overwhelmed and hesitant and described feeling that their concerns went unnoticed. Today, however, three years down the road, the iPads seem to have become an integral part of the everyday working environment of teachers and students alike and none of the teachers want to go back to teaching without iPads.

Tidigare forskning inom ekonomistyrning har i stor utsträckning fokuserat på att studera vilken effekt feedback har på medarbetare. Att få effekt av feedback förutsätter dock att feedbacken når fram. Vidare finns forskning på chefers avsikt med feedback samt vad som påverkar hur medarbetare uppfattar feedback, dock identifieras en brist på forskning som jämför chefers avsikt med medarbetares uppfattning. Denna studie syftar därmed till att utforska chefers avsikt med och medarbetares uppfattning av formell och informell feedback samt att jämföra dessa för att vidare utvärdera befintlig feedback-relation. En inledande genomgång av befintlig litteratur gav teoretiska förväntningar på vilka faktorer chefer avser att påverka med feedback samt vad som påverkar medarbetares uppfattning av feedback. Då avsikt med och uppfattning av feedback inte var känd på förhand genomfördes en kvalitativ intervjustudie baserad på respondenter från två team inom ett företag. Resultatet visar skillnader, dels i synen på vad som räknas som feedback, dels i chefers avsikt med och medarbetares uppfattning av feedback. Inkongruens mellan avsikt med och uppfattning av feedback leder till en bristfällig feedback-relation.

This thesis presents a scholarly synthesis of a series of original published works providing evidence that student feedback, collected and analysed using valid and defensible methods, is effective in improving the quality of teaching and learning in higher education. The key factors underpinning the effective use of student feedback for quality improvement of teaching and learning in higher education are revealed. Students’ perceptions of their experience in achieving learning outcomes are reported.

Better feedback principles for the utility bills in South Africa need to be developed. Utility providers might be able to "nudge" consumers towards more desirable consumption patterns by delivering simpler and better feedback informed by applied behavioural sciences. Two sets of controlled experiments were conducted with over 1,500 subjects to identify bill design strategies that could overcome two major barriers to effective consumption feedback: • the complexity of the utility bill, especially with regards to tariff calculations, and • consumer's declining mindfulness of utility consumption between billing moments. The "Utility Bill Redesign" experiment, using a randomised control trial, investigates how improving billing feedback design increases consumer's understanding of energy usage and costs. More than 1,300 participants are randomly assigned to different treatment groups and receive one of nine redesigned utility bills or the current standard bill. Thereafter, participant's understanding of the bill they received is tested through a questionnaire. We find that restructuring the bill in a logical order and displaying the amount of electricity consumed in each tariff block with separate bar graphs is a successful way to increase consumer understanding of the bill, especially with regards to the step tariff. Further, the results clearly show that consumers are unable to make sense of a utility bill that is not in their home language, even when adding utility specific symbols. We conclude that significant low-cost improvements can be made to utility bills to increase consumer comprehension. In the "Attention Redirection" experiment, participants are assigned to different treatment groups and are given an online task that requires daily attention and effort in order to maximise pay-offs. We find that daily SMS reminders significantly redirect attention to the daily task. A blank graph, given to participants at the beginning of the experiment to assist them in self-managing their behaviour, has no effect on task adherence. The results illustrate how inattention routinely leads to sub-optimal behaviour in a specific task area and the resulting welfare loss. A purely bill-based strategy is rendered unsuccessful.

Sjukskrivningstalen är höga bland terapeuter och handledning ses som ett viktigt stöd i både utbildning och yrkesutövning. Trots det så har få metoder fokuserat på terapeuters egna upplevelse av handledning. Några nya metoder med syfte att öka intrapersonell och psykologisk kapacitet hos terapeuter i arbete med klienter är Deliberate Practice (DP), Feedback Informed Treatment (FIT) och Self-compassion (SC). Under 2018 användes dessa metoder av två handledare som handledde sex studentterapeuter under utbildning. Denna studie undersöker hur studentterapeuterna upplevde det nya arbetssättet. Studien bygger på semistrukturerade intervjuer som har analyserats tematiskt utifrån en induktiv ansats. Resultatet visar att ett upplevelse- och feedbackbaserat arbetssätt uppfattades som tidseffektivt, strukturerat och målinriktat. Detta skapar aktivitet och delaktighet, en stark gruppdynamik samt god allians med handledarna vilket ger gott klimat för inlärning och utveckling. Några negativa aspekter på arbetssättet är att det är tidskrävande, att fokusering på prestation och feedback upplevs som ett hinder som kan skapa stress, ångest samt en känsla av att utvärderingen inte blir rättvis. Sammantaget visar resultatet att arbetssättet uppfattas som gynnsamt för studentterapeuter i utbildningsterapi gällande utveckling av både terapeutiska färdigheter och intrapersonell kapacitet. En utmaning för arbetssättet är att handledningen är obligatorisk, hierarkisk och betygsgrundande. För att generera goda förutsättningar för arbetssättet behövs mer utrymme i utbildningen skapas, fördelarna med arbetssättet belysas och ett tillåtande klimat med fokus på allians mellan studenter och handledare upprätthållas. Därtill är det också viktigt att beakta studenternas förmåga att vara självmedkännande.
There are high rates of sick-leave among therapists and supervision is seen as an important support in both professional practice and during education. Despite this, there are few methods that focuses on therapists' experience of supervision. Some new methods with the aim to increase the intrapersonal and psychological capacity of therapists in work with clients are Deliberate Practice (DP), Feedback Informed Treatment (FIT) and Self-Compassion (SC). During 2018, these methods were used by two supervisors who supervised six student therapists during training. This study examines how the student therapists experienced the new way of working. To collect the data semi-structured interviews were conducted, to further be analyzed thematically based on an inductive approach. The result showed that an experience- and feedback-based approach was perceived as efficient, structured and goal-oriented. This created activity and participation, a strong group dynamic and a good alliance with the supervisors, which provided a good climate for learning and development. Some negative aspects of the work method were that it’s a time-consuming. Further, focusing on performance and feedback was perceived as an obstacle that could create stress, anxiety and a feeling that the evaluation was not fair. The result showed overall that the way of working was perceived as beneficial for student therapists in education therapy regarding the development of both therapeutic skills and intrapersonal capacity. A challenge is that supervision is mandatory, hierarchical and that it’s a graded task. In order to generate good conditions for the work method more available space is needed within program. The advantages of the method need to be highlighted and an open climate with focus on alliance between students and supervisors need to be maintained. It is also important to consider the students' ability to be self-compassionate.

Följande studie handlar om feedbackorienterad terapi på Familjerådgivningen. Syftet var att mäta parens upplevda förändring av livstillfredsställelse för att se om samtalen på Familjerådgivningen gör skillnad och om förändringen enligt skattningsinstrumenten ORS och SRS överensstämde med skattningen av klimatet i parrelationen/familjen samt om det fanns några könsskillnader. Undersökningsgruppen omfattades av 29 par, som sökte hjälp på Familjerådgivningen i södra Dalarna, i Mora och i Linköping under tiden januari 2016 till maj 2016. Paren fyllde i skattningsinstrumentet ORS (som mäter förändring) i början av varje samtal och SRS (som mäter alliansen) i slutet av varje samtal. Familjerådgivaren använde sig av den feedback som gavs och korrigerade behandlingen därefter. Vid första och tredje samtalet fyllde paren i skattningsinstrumentet "Familjeklimat". Resultatet efter tre samtal visade en liten förbättring av livstillfredsställelse för både män och kvinnor vilket överensstämde med skattningen av klimatet i familjen där närheten förbättrades och kaos minskade.
The following study is about feedback informed treatment in family councelling. The purpose was to measure the couples experienced change in life satisfaction, to see if treatment sessions of family councelling makes a difference and change according to the estimation instruments ORS and SRS and is consistent with the estimate of the atmosphere in the couple´s relationship/family atmosphere and if there were any gender differences. The study group included 29 couples who sought help at the Family councelling in southern Dalarna, Mora and Linköping during the period of January 2016 to May 2016. The couples filled in the instrument ORS (measuring change) at the beginning of each session and SRS (measuring alliance) at the end of each session. The family councellor used the received feedback and corrected treatment accordingly. In the first and third session the couples filled in the "Family climate" instrument. The outcome after three sessions showed a small improvement in the life satisfaction for both men and women which were consistent with the estimate of the atmosphere and the climate in the family. The vicinity improved and chaos decreased.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate Feedback-Informed Therapy (FIT) (Miller & Bertolino, 2015) in the form of the Outcome Rating Scale (ORS) and Group Session Rating Scale (GSRS) scales when used in network therapy within the social services. The study is quantitative and is based on collected ORS and GSRS forms from 10 network therapies, including 94 people. The material is collected by network teams in four municipalities in Sweden; Norrköping, Enköping, Gothenburg and Botkyrka. The protagonists have completed an ORS on three occasions during the treatment period; before, during and after. The closest relatives, mainly parents, have made parallel estimates on the same occasions. In each network therapy, a network meeting and a follow-up network meeting have been held. All participants have completed a GSRS after the meetings. Of the study participants, 38% estimated a Clinical Significant Change in ORS after the network therapy. 50% estimated a positive change that did not exceed the limit of clinical significance. 12% estimated a small deterioration. In the cases of a Clinically Significant Change or major change, the meeting participants at the network meetings have estimated high on the GSRS (36.5 in the first meeting and 37.1 in the second meeting. In those cases with a small positive change or decrease, the participants have estimated lower on the GSRS (33.5 in first and 31.8 in others). The results indicate that network therapy gives a good effect if measured with ORS and that this effect appears early in the treatment. The study also indicates that the limit value for GSRS does not appear to be lower in Network Therapy than in other group therapy. Furthermore, the study points out that the network therapies that have network meetings with balance from the different sectors in the protagonist's life provide the best results both on the GRSR and ORS.
Syftet med denna uppsats är att undersöka Feedback-informerad terapi (FIT) (Miller & Bertolino, 2015) i form av skattningsskalorna Outcome Rating Scale (ORS) och Group Session Rating Scale (GSRS) när de används i nätverksterapi inom socialtjänsten. Studien är kvantitativ och utgår från insamlade ORS- och GSRS-formulär från 10 nätverksterapier som inkluderat 94 personer. Materialet är insamlat av nätverkslag i fyra kommuner i Sverige: Norrköping, Enköping, Göteborg och Botkyrka. Studiedeltagarna har fyllt i en ORS-skattning vid tre tillfällen under behandlingstiden; före, under tiden och efter. De närmast anhöriga, oftast föräldrar, har gjort parallella skattningar vid samma tillfällen. I varje nätverksterapi har det hållits ett nätverksmöte och ett uppföljande nätverksmöte. Samtliga deltagare har fyllt i en GSRS efter mötena. Av studiens deltagare skattade 38 % en klinisk signifikant förändring (KSF) på ORS efter nätverksterapin. 50 % skattade en positiv förändring som inte översteg gränsen för klinisk signifikans. 12 % skattade en försämring. I fallen med en klinisk signifikant förändring eller stor förändring har mötesdeltagarna på nätverksmötena skattat högt på GSRS (36,5 i första mötet och 37,1 i andra mötet. I de fall med liten positiv förändring eller minskning har deltagarna skattat lägre på GSRS (33,5 i första och 31,8 i andra). Resultaten pekar på att nätverksterapi ger god effekt om man mäter med ORS och att denna effekt visar sig tidigt i behandlingen. Studien pekar också på att gränsvärdet för GSRS inte verkar ligga lägre i Nätverksterapi än i annan gruppterapi. Vidare pekar studien på att de nätverksterapier som har nätverksmöten med balans från de olika sektorerna i huvudpersonens liv ger bäst resultat både på GRSR och ORS.

The key objective of this master's thesis is to elucidate processes that increase the effectiveness of interpersonal communication in company Saint-Gobain Weber Terranova, Inc. The paper is divided into two main sections. The first part provides a theoretical summary. Followed second empirical section which is based on research of actual quality of interpersonal communication in company. The results of a questionary research as the main data-collecting tool will make a headstone for a set of proposals which will result in more effective internal communication in the above-mentioned company.

Diploma thesis focuses on clarifying of sociocybernetics principles and its connection to other sciences. It refers to possible approach to information, knowledge, systems. Further, it appeals to individuals in terms of social system and their values, abstract reality perception, utilization of feedback, autopoiesis (self-organization) and many others. Theoretical frame offers to reader awareness about this topic. Practical part points out possible application of this concept along complex organization analysis. Results of analysis refer to bottlenecks and possible improvements, in terms of sociocybernetics principles and methods.

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI)
Improving performance management is a high priority for many organizations that want to improve the performance of their employees. Recently, researchers have focused on the social context to promote behavioral change, and have created new scales to examine context, such as the feedback environment. The current study examined internal and external accountability as mediators of the relationship between the feedback environment and developmental behaviors. Participants each completed three scales measuring the feedback environment, internal and external accountability, and developmental behaviors. Results suggested that internal and external accountability both mediate the relationship between the feedback environment and developmental behaviors, but neither is a stronger mediator than the other. In addition, internal and external accountability both mediate the relationship between each component of the feedback environment and developmental behaviors, but again neither is a stronger mediator than the other. This study contributed to the literature on performance management, and emphasized the importance of training supervisors to use the feedback environment to increase perceptions of accountability for employees.

Objetivo – O presente estudo procura dar a conhecer o momento em que as organizações se encontram no que diz respeito aos seus sistemas de gestão de desempenho e testar algumas variáveis presentes recorrentemente no dia-a-dia das organizações. Dentro de uma abordagem de gestão de desempenho informal, este estudo procura ainda sensibilizar para a importância dos eventos críticos em contexto organizacional e mostrar o impacto que a qualidade do feedback sobre esses eventos pode vir a desempenhar tanto na autorreflexão dos trabalhadores como posteriormente na sua Performance. Método/Participantes – Uma amostra de conveniência (n=29) composta por colaboradores de uma empresa de consultoria na área dos Recursos Humanos presente em diversas áreas de negócio que participaram num estudo semanal durante quatro semanas. Resultados – Uma relação positiva entre os Eventos Críticos e a Autorreflexão dos trabalhadores. Efeito de interação não significativo dos Eventos Críticos e o Feedback de Qualidade na Autorreflexão. Autorreflexão não apresenta uma relação significativa com a Performance. Conclusão – Apesar de ter sido verificado apenas um dos resultados esperados, o presente estudo vem reforçar a importância de uma abordagem de gestão de desempenho informal focada nos eventos diários e feedback constante. Considerando como limitação a dimensão da amostra, será interessante numa investigação futura aplicar a abordagem usada neste estudo em diferentes contextos/culturas organizacionais para obtermos conclusões mais significativas.
Purpose – This study aims to reveal how organizations are currently implementing their performance management systems, and test some variables present in everyday activities of organizations. Within an informal performance management approach this study also seeks to (3) raise awareness for the importance of critical events in organizational context and (4) show the impact that the quality of feedback on these events could have both on workers' Self-Reflection and also on their Performance. Method/Participants – A convenience sample (n=29) composed of employees from a Human Resources consulting company, operating in various business areas, participated in a weekly study for four weeks. Results – A positive relation between Critical Events and Self-reflection of the workers. No significant interaction of Critical Events and Quality Feedback on Self-reflection. SelfReflection does not show a significant relationship with Performance. Conclusion – Although only one of the expected results was confirmed, this study reinforces the importance of an informal performance management approach focused on daily events and constant feedback. Considering that the sample size was a limitation, it will be interesting in further investigations to apply this study’s approach in different contexts/organizational cultures to get more significant conclusions.

Informal feedback giving behavior has been largely ignored in the management science literature despite the important role it plays in improving individual and organizational performance. This two-part study was designed to elucidate the construct of informal feedback giving behavior and to develop a scale to measure the behavior. A model of informal feedback giving, originally developed by Larson (1984), was extended with the addition of Dweck's (2000) implicit theories of human abilities to predict informal feedback giving by supervisors. Employee tenure and supervisor-employee task dependence were hypothesized to moderate the relationship between the supervisors' implicit theory and their informal feedback giving. The results of the scale development and validation revealed that there are four factors underlying feedback giving. These factors include two dimensions of the feedback valence (positive and negative) and two communication methods (verbal and non-verbal) that were combined into four subscales (positive verbal, positive non-verbal, negative verbal and negative non-verbal). These factors were extracted in both the employee and the supervisor samples, suggesting a robust structure. The extension of Larson's model produced mixed results and the original hypotheses were not clearly supported. Implicit theories of human abilities predicted certain types of informal feedback giving although there was limited concordance between the employee and the supervisor reports. The moderators, employee tenure and task dependence, did have an effect on the relationship between the supervisors' implicit theory and their tendency to provide specific types of feedback. The implications of these findings were discussed with an emphasis on the construct of informal feedback giving and the effects of implicit theories on the behavior.

Feedback is an essential component of the communication process. Feedback reveals how participants assign meanings and how these meanings are negotiated through interaction (Verwey, In: Lubbe and Puth 1994:64). Feedback also ensures the success of the communicated message and determines whether the objectives of the intended communication have been achieved (Seitel 1995:109). Communication feedback also contains information in all its formats. In the current information age, it is often believed that information is power and that those who have information at their fingertips are more powerful than the rest. In communication management literature, writers and researchers often emphasise the significant role of communication feedback. Feedback plays a vital role in communication management, in particular, as a strategic management function. One example is the two- directional symmetrical model, described by Grunig (1992), where feedback and mutual adaptation play an important role. In most management theory the collection of communication feedback is mainly seen as an active, intentional and formal research process that is initiated by corporate communication and marketing departments. In this sense much has been written about formal research (for example, surveys and environmental scanning) by means of quantitative and qualitative research methods as well as the solicitation of formal customer feedback. However, informal, unintentional and almost accidental casual communication feedback input (informal feedback) is often neglected and regarded as being unimportant by organisations, and is therefore not measured or captured in a data system. At the same time stakeholder engagement and dialogue has become quite a contemporary issue in the corporate governance of organisations. This study agitates for the cultivation of informal feedback intervention as a method of obtaining improved stakeholder engagement that ultimately leads to inclusive corporate governance. This research study investigates informal feedback and defines it as all of communication feedback (into the system - the organisation) that occurs spontaneously via media such as the telephone, e-mail, fax and through internet services, such as internet chat rooms, and even feedback obtained from the organisational grapevine, rumours and gossip. Stakeholders or interest groups deliver informal feedback without the organisation making a formal effort to collect it. The empirical research was conducted amongst 55 inspiring South African learning organisations as identified by The Corporate Research Foundation (CRF) in its publication The Best Companies to Work for in 2004. Organisations have to learn to be smarter to survive. Learning organisations are characterised by conscious and intentional learning, openness to inquiry, experimentation and the sharing of knowledge. The applied research design consists of a dual investigation, with both exploratory and descriptive characteristics, of the management of informal feedback and the possible existence of informal feedback intervention methods in these organisations. In this qualitative investigation, content analysis was firstly used to determine the current degree of “openness” (accessibility) to informal feedback input in these organisations’ corporate web pages. This was supplemented by the results of a questionnaire as completed by the communication managers/ marketing managers of the same organisations. This research study aims to determine whether informal feedback, the ongoing management of the feedback process and systematic analysis thereof can be regarded as one of the critical communication management tactics of learning organisations. The study also aims to determine how informal feedback intervention can be integrated into corporate communication strategy. It suggests that modern learning organisations should make an effort to provide proper channels and favourable environments to increasingly receive informal feedback input from all stakeholders and thereby facilitate ongoing learning and continuous improvement. This study concludes that communication managers have a vital role to play in explaining feedback inputs to management in terms of its impact on existing corporate communication and business strategies. This study also defines informal feedback intervention as the communication management process by which all informal feedback input is collected, sorted and grouped, evaluated and described according to applied and relevant impact on strategy. The intervention lies in the impact and outcome envisaged as well as the adaptation of the organisation’s strategy and change of course. A framework that aims to systemise the informal feedback intervention process - The Multi-Layer Informal Feedback Intervention Wheel – is subsequently proposed. This framework aims to provide intervention suggestions (feedback interventions) to management. The framework is also applied in an anonymous case study of a major South African company - Company X. It is concluded from this case study that theMulti-Layer Informal Feedback Intervention Wheel also acts as a forecasting tool by providing communication managers with feedforward. The Informal Feedback Intervention Wheel assists the communication manager in assessing everyday feedback issues and identifying emerging suggestions of informal feedback interventions to management. It, therefore, assists communication managers to be proactive, early warning agents for their organisations. The meta theoretical background of the systems approach, systems thinking and the general systems theory, as well as the management notion of the learning organisation, form foundations for exploring the relevance and application of the concept of informal feedback intervention.
Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2006.
Communication Management
PhD
Unrestricted

This study explored perceptions of performance feedback communicated by Japanese supervisors to their U.S. subordinates in Japanese subsidiaries in the U. S. Individual face-to-face interviews were conducted with both Japanese supervisors and U.S. subordinates and their responses were tape-recorded. The purpose of the study was to assess perceptual similarities and differences held by participants in regard to appropriateness and effectiveness of positive and negative feedback. The participants were asked to give their opinions about the functions, timing, frequency, and specificity of positive and negative feedback as well as overall appropriateness and effectiveness of feedback. Other related issues such as U.S. subordinates' feedback-seeking behavior and perceptions of the relationship quality were asked as well. The descriptions given by the participants were interpreted and then compared and contrasted within companies and across cultural groups to find similarities and differences in perceptions. Perceived overall appropriateness and effectiveness, thus competence, of feedback reflected satisfaction or perceived appropriateness of each dimension of feedback; timing, frequency, and specificity. In addition to these dimensions, explicitness and manner of delivery emerged from the participants' responses, especially from U.S. participants'. Japanese supervisors tended to emphasize timeliness, frequency, or specificity of their feedback to explain the overall competence of their feedback. U.S. subordinates, on the other hand, tended to focus on the extent of explicitness of feedback and manner of delivery to determine overall competence of feedback given by their Japanese supervisors. Overall satisfaction perceived by U.S. subordinates inversely related to their feedback-seeking behavior. When U.S. participants' needs for feedback were satisfied by their supervisor, they did not seek further information about their performance. An exception was that when U.S. subordinates did not find feedback meaningful in general, they did not seek feedback, despite their dissatisfaction with feedback given to them. Relationships were described by both Japanese supervisors and U.S. subordinates in terms of the extent of formality, professional quality, friendliness, and trust. Satisfaction with the relationship was positively related with U.S. participants' satisfaction with overall feedback. In relationships where communication flows continually in a transactional sense, and/or closeness and mutual trust was perceived, U.S. subordinates tended to find feedback from their Japanese supervisors to serve positive functions.
Graduation date: 1995

碩士
逢甲大學
外國語文學系英語文研究碩士班
106
Writing motivation plays an important role in both traditional L2 writing instruction and corpus-enhanced writing contexts. However, very limited motivation research has been conducted in either context (Bodnar et al., 2016). Receiving feedback for writing is believed to enhance learners’ motivation (Cardelle & Corno, 1981). Drawing insights from the literature of corpus-informed corrective feedback (e.g., Tono et al., 2014) and recent writing motivation research (Waller & Papi, 2017), the study examined how writing motivation influenced students’ uptake of corrective feedback with corpus consultation over one semester. Task engagement which is regarded as motivated behaviors during tasks (Dörnyei & Kormos, 2000; Han & Hyland, 2015; Philp & Duchesne, 2016; Wang et al., 2015) was carefully documented over time so as to discover why and how the learners were (or not) motivated to use the corpus tools for correction. By adopting a questionnaire on the students’ writing motivation, feedback orientation, and implicit beliefs of writing intelligence (Waller & Papi, 2017), the study documented 16 EFL students’ changes in writing motivation, task engagement with corpus use via three observations, and error reduction between essay drafts over ten weeks. Based on a process-oriented pedagogy, the students wrote three multi-draft essay assignments: exemplification, narration, and description plus one diagnostic essay. The instructor marked around five errors on their essay drafts before the students used two English-Chinese concordancers, TANGO and TOTALrecall or COCA (Corpus of Contemporary America English) to correct their errors plus other reference resources. By analyzing students’ records of revision and screen recording, the result of error correction was positive. Corpus use was also increased as a sign of increased engagement, and was found to be positively correlated with the students’ writing motivation. Focusing on the ten weeks’ observation, the proportion of errors in students’ essays was reduced by 82.3%, and the successful rate of correcting errors via corpora was 62.6%. In addition, students used corpus tools more often for verb usage and vocabulary errors. In the beginning, students’ usage of corpora was 8.9%. However, in later three essays, the frequencies were increased from 47.3% to 61.2% among other references. Comparison of the questionnaire elicited at the beginning and end of the semester shows a slight increase of writing motivation and feedback seeking, but not statistically significantly. Students’ beliefs of writing intelligence did not predict their writing motivation nor feedback orientation. Close examination of four focal students with data triangulation indicate that their cognitive, behavioral, and emotional engagement was closely related to the effects of feedback processing aided by corpora, in spite of fluctuation of different learners’ engagement over time (cf. Han & Hyland, 2015). With more successful corpus-aided error corrections, Student A felt his writing structures and word usage were improved because of the DDL experience. He thought that by using concordance, he could see more example sentences than in a dictionary and the context where the words were often used. However, it was time-consuming. Student C commented that after using those concordancers, she had more patience for correcting errors than before. Her grammar was improved and she got more interest in English writing. Moreover, student D commented that his writing ability had been improved after corpus use and learning in the course. He commented that using concordancers was interesting and he was willing to spend time on using them as references by extending such cognitive support. With less corpus use, student B commented using concordancers was helpful, but she still liked to use google translator. She was not willing to spend time on using concordancers for correction, choosing to stay in her comfort zone. Although every student got the same pedagogy, context and reference tools in the course, they had different engagement toward corpus consultation. Different engagement may be linked with writing motivation and feedback seeking. In conclusion, corpus-informed feedback processing can be beneficial for improving students’ writing quality. After the course, the frequency of using corpora was increased. It shows that students were more familiar with using corpora to correct errors than before. These results show that corpus-informed corrective feedback is helpful for students to correct errors in their compositions, and we observed that students' engagement of using corpus to correct errors improved. In addition, it seems that the process of using corpora to correct errors can increase student’ writing motivation simultaneously. Moreover, students’ perceptions toward corpus-informed feedback processing were positive. Effective pedagogical procedures are suggested in orienting students toward full engagement with corpus consultation which leads toward feedback uptake and acquisition of word patterns as well as language development. We also suggest the limitations of our research and some directions of future research.

Title: The behaviour of coach - exploring didactic problems Objectives: The aim of my work is to create a scoping study and the use of feedback information in the training unit. Research questions: How should be feedback information mediated to the recipient? How often and in what forms to use feedback in the training unit? Methods: In my work I used the method of data acquisition, data analysis method and the method of narrative overview. I have summarized the information and made conclusions. Results: The goal of this work was completed. The research questions were answered. It was presented instructions for coaches. Keywords: correction, feedback information, instruction

Title: The behaviour of youth football coach Objectives: The objective of this thesis is to present didactic activity of youth football coach, coaching methods that treat the players differently than the training material, define these forms of coach behaviour - feedback information, correction, instruction, question and present examples of effective and ineffective use. Methods: In this thesis I use the method of narrative overview and the modified analysis of didactic interaction. Results: Coaching unlike the style of command breaks down internal barriers and develops independence and responsibility, increases self-confidence and creates a higher level of skills. The coach must be aware of the function and effectiveness of the content and timing of individual forms his behaviour to the training process as efficient as possible. Key words: feedback information, correction, instruction, question, coaching.

Title: Coaching the coach in the game Aims: To diagnose coaching performance in two competitive matches of youth category. In the following, I will focus on the forms of coach behavior and postural activity. Research questions: How and in what form should the coach motivate his players in a match? What influence will the match and its result have on the coach and his postural activity in the monitored matches? How does the coach give instructions and feedback? Methods: To achieve the goals I use the method of observation, audio and video recording method and the method of teaching interaction (ADI) Results: The objective of this work was accomplished. The research questions were answered. Recommendations were presented for coaches. Keywords: coaching, coach, trainer, feedback information, instruction

The diploma thesis Cooperation of Teams and Joint Leisure Time of Employees deals with relation between frequency of involvement of individuals in cooperation of teams and their evaluation of the cooperation, information sharing and spending leisure time with colleagues. In the theoretical part, the theme is put into the broader framework of culture. The main areas affecting the problem are defined further. Emphasis is put on corporate culture, organizational climate and social relations between individuals in a company. In the empirical part of the text, the research question is described, the main hypothesis is set, the operational hypotheses are derived, the operationalization is performed, and the company and its teams that are subject of the research are presented. Subsequently, all processes and their relation being subject of the research are theoretically anchored and described based on the data analysis. In the concluding part of the text, there is an overview of mutual sympathy, ties and antipathy of members of the studied teams as well as it is found out to what extent the data analysis confirms the hypotheses determined. Information about mutual sympathy, ties and antipathy of individuals was obtained using the first questionnaire at the beginning of the research. The analyses of...