Using rubric-referenced multisource feedback in digital multimodal composing assessment: Unveiling students’ perceptions and cognitive engagement

While literature underscores the benefits of digital multimodal composing (DMC) on second language (L2) writing, research on DMC assessment remains limited, primarily focusing on teacher-centric models. There is an insufficient discussion on student-centered assessment approaches that foster active learning, enhance rubric comprehension, and increase assessment transparency. Therefore, this study aims to address the research gap by introducing a novel rubric-referenced, multisource (integrating self- and peer) feedback approach for assessing DMC in L2 writing contexts, focusing on examining students’ cognitive engagement with this assessment process. This study proposes a genre-based feedback form to guide students in providing gradeless feedback for DMC artifacts (videos in this study). Multisource data is collected from 89 Chinese L2 students at a university. It includes stimulated-recall interviews, students’ reflective journals, student-completed feedback forms, student-generated videos, and their revised videos.

The findings reveal a holistic, co-constructed self- and peer feedback cycle. Throughout this process, students self-regulate feedback and revisions using a range of cognitive and metacognitive strategies, notably planning and seeking external resources to refine their understanding of the effective orchestration of semiotic modes. Cross-group discussions facilitate students’ metacognitive reflection on semiotic mode selection, while the genre-based feedback form serves as an explicit framework for DMC assessment, empowering students to develop multimodal metalanguage and a deeper understanding of DMC.

This study contributes to the underexplored domain of DMC assessment by proposing a learning-oriented and student-centered approach. This approach facilitates students’ dynamic reflection on both language use and cohesion of modes, shifting from passive knowledge receivers to active designers and assessors of multimodality. The employment of the genre-based feedback form enhances students’ comprehension of the structural features of DMC genres. It creates a positive synergy between DMC learning and assessment practice in classes with a large population.