Verbal interaction analysis: viewing feedback through a different lens.
BACKGROUND
Verbal interaction analysis, though seldom applied to the feedback-giving process, can be used to assess feedback dimensions not easily assessed by other means.


METHODS
The purpose of this study was to explore verbal interaction analysis as a method to assess feedback interactions between senior medical students trained as teachers and their sophomore learners. We randomly selected 14 videotaped encounters of senior teachers giving feedback to sophomore learners and classified 417 utterances to address (a) verbal dominance, (b) feedback balance, and (c) cognitive level.


RESULTS
Teachers did most of the talking (65.2%). Although some feedback was corrective (20.6%), teacher utterances were mostly positive (33.5%) or neutral (45.9%). Cognitively, the teacher utterances occurred largely at the factual (lowest) level (74.3%).


CONCLUSIONS
Interaction analysis enabled us to describe 3 dimensions of teacher-learner feedback not easily assessed by other means: verbal dominance, positive-corrective balance, and cognitive level. Assessing these dimensions provides information about two theoretically important indices of feedback-giving effectiveness: learner involvement and feedback balance. Future study of verbal interaction analysis in this and other populations is warranted to further evaluate its usefulness.
Department of Medicine, The George Washington University School of Medicine, Washington, DC, USA. msdbcb@gwumc.edu
Benjamin
B
Blatt
Sharon
S
Confessore
Gene
G
Kallenberg
Larrie
L
Greenberg
D004504:Education, Medical, Undergraduate; D004521:Educational Measurement; D005246:Feedback; D006801:Humans; D013337:Students, Medical; D013663:Teaching / Q000379:methods* / Q000592:standards; D014705:Verbal Behavior; D014743:Videotape Recording; D000078329:Workforce