How do Finnish and Chinese students’ diverse pedagogical experiences shape feedback interpretation?

Abstract

Due to the dissemination of joint degree programmes in higher education, more students from different educational backgrounds are exposed to the same teaching and assessment without sharing a common pedagogical culture. Since this is relatively new in Finland, little is known about how students with diverse backgrounds experience assessment compared to their Finnish classmates and how this affects their overall performance. Having as a starting point an English for Specific Purposes course offered in Finland and China, this qualitative study focuses on the role of feedback through seventeen in-depth interviews. Themes such as grades and peer feedback were interpreted based on the educational background to which the students have been previously exposed. These findings indicate that the teacher should be aware of their previous pedagogical experiences and how these affect feedback in the classroom. Additionally, peer feedback needs to be addressed explicitly by the teacher during the lessons and create more scaffolding opportunities to avoid potential misinterpretations.