Addressing Recent Feedback Engagement Agenda: A Theory-Driven Comparison of AI Feedback and Teacher Feedback in Project-Based Learning Context

Abstract

This study investigates English as a foreign language (EFL) university students’ perception of engagement with teacher feedback vs. artificial intelligence feedback on project-based learning reports. To this end, the control group (34 students) received conventional teacher feedback on the discussion section of their reports, while the experimental group (34 students) received artificial intelligence feedback on the same report section. Afterward, they completed a questionnaire addressing four feedback engagement dimensions (i.e., behavioral, cognitive, affective, and ethical), followed by written reflections, mirroring the same dimensions. Quantitative results indicate that the students are more affectively and ethically engaged with teacher feedback, while there are no differences between the two groups concerning behavioral and cognitive dimensions. Qualitative findings reveal that the students are more cognitively and ethically engaged with teacher feedback. This study contributes to the current literature by operationalizing the missing ethical engagement and incorporating it into feedback engagement models. It proposes that ethical engagement permeates the other three feedback dimensions, functioning as an overarching dimension present during the whole feedback process.