Perceived Effectiveness of Feedback Strategies used By Junior Secondary School Agriculture Teachers

One of the major tasks of an effective teacher is the provision of specific and timely feedback to students. Unfortunately, there is aucity of studies on the effectiveness of feedback strategies used by agriculture teachers. Therefore, the purpose of the study was to determine the perceived effectiveness of feedback strategies used by Junior Secondary School Agriculture teachers. Specifically, the study sought to identify perceived feedback strategies, challenges encountered, and perceived effectiveness of the feedback strategies used by agriculture teachers. The study targeted Junior Secondary School Agriculture Teachers in Eswatini (n=180). A descriptive survey, employing a questionnaire in data collection was used. The questionnaire was validated by three experts from the Department of Agricultural Education and Extension at the University of Eswatini. Inter-item reliability was established using Cronbach’s Alpha and was .80. Means, standard deviations, frequencies and percentages were used in data analysis. The findings of the study revealed that written feedback was the prominent feedback strategy used (M=5.21, SD=0.76); yet verbal feedback was considered the most effective strategy (M=5.11, SD=0.81). Therefore, the study concluded that verbal feedback is the most effective strategy. The study recommended that teachers should consider using verbal feedback more than written feedback as it is the most effective strategy. however, it was noted that teachers should consider giving feedback using virtual approaches as the world is migrating to online learning.