Empowering student engagement: the dynamics of learner traits in digital feedback environments

Abstract The study employed a researcher-designed digital tool tailored to enhance student engagement with their writing performance. Through this digital tool, the researchers delved into the relationships between learner traits, including mindset, feedback orientation, and self-regulated learning repertoire, and their impact on improved engagement and student writing outcomes. The data for this study is derived from 40 students and encompasses their performance in student engagement enhancement tool, their mindset, feedback orientation, and self-regulated learning repertoires, as well as writing scores. Student engagement in writing tasks underwent analysis through open coding and axial coding of Feedback Related Episodes (FREs) extracted from booklets and Google Docs logs. Additionally, students’ mindset status, feedback orientation, and self-regulated learning repertoires were evaluated using relevant questionnaires. Writing performances were assessed using a holistic approach. Correlation and regression analyses were conducted to explore the relationship between learner factors, student engagement and writing performance. Results show significant positive correlations between writing performance and behavioral, emotional, and cognitive engagement, growth mindset, self-regulation, and feedback seeking. However, fixed mindset and feedback avoiding had non-significant correlations with writing performance. Regression analysis revealed emotional engagement as the most significant predictor of writing test performance, followed by growth mindset and cognitive engagement. These findings highlight the importance of student agentive engagement in enhancing writing skills and provide valuable insights into related factors.