Feedback in virtual environments and critical and creative skills: A correlational study

Abstract

The virtual university environment has experienced a major boost after the pandemic crisis; however, the training of specialized professionals presents major challenges in didactics and the formative assessment process. Therefore, the main objective of this research was to determine the relationship between formative feedback and the development of critical and creative skills in university students. The research was quantitative, correlational, and non-experimental. Participants included 137 virtual-mode engineering students from the city of Lima, Peru, aged between 18 and 45 years, with 64.2% male and 35.8% female. Findings indicate that formative feedback has a positive, significant, and strong correlation with both critical skills (r = 0.659, p < .001, Z = 0.791) and creative skills (r = 0.660, p < .001, Z = 0.791). Women scored higher in descriptive and evaluative feedback, as well as in critical and creative skills. Younger students reported higher scores in overall formative feedback and its evaluative dimension. Students who combine work and studies perceived formative feedback, discovery-based feedback, evaluative feedback, critical skills, and creative skills more positively. No significant differences were found according to the specific field of engineering.