THE IMPACT OF PROGRESS FEEDBACK ON SELF REGULATED GOALS AND PERFORMANCE OF POSTGRADUATE RESEARCH STUDENTS

The demand for a continuous consideration of postgraduate supervision has risen because of the various problems reported in numerous studies, such as the high rate of dissatisfaction and attrition, supervisors’ inadequate knowledge about practical aspects of candidature, and unsatisfactory levels in obtaining feedback about students’ performance and progress. These studies indicated that giving and receiving constructive and ongoing feedback between supervisors and students plays an essential role in identifying both parties concerns. For postgraduate research students, the nature of their task requires them to work more independently. Thus, self-regulating learning becomes important, particularly at the early stages of the study where students start to set their study goals, and the social support of the supervisor becomes in need. Self-regulating learning is the process of setting a goal, employing goal-directed actions, monitoring strategies and adjusting them to ensure success. This paper discusses the effect of supervisor feedback on the student’s self-regulation based on a review of the literature of self-regulation theory, and how receiving positive or negative feedback may affect student’s goal setting and performance during the postgraduate study