In Education, Delayed Feedback Is Often More Efficient Than Immediate Feedback: A Geometric Explanation

Authors

Francisco Zapata, The University of Texas at El PasoFollow
Olga Kosheleva, The University of Texas at El PasoFollow
Vladik Kreinovich, The University of Texas at El PasoFollow

Publication Date

6-2017

Comments

Technical Report: UTEP-CS-17-52

Published in Journal of Innovative Technology and Education, 2017, Vol. 4, No. 1, pp. 109-112.

Abstract

Feedback is important in education. It is commonly believed that immediate feedback is very important. That is why instructors stay often late at night grading students' assignments -- to make sure that the students get their feedback as early as possible. However, surprisingly, experiments show that in many cases, delayed feedback is more efficient that the immediate one. In this paper, we provide a simple geometric explanation of this seemingly counter-intuitive empirical phenomenon.