Abstract
This study investigated cohort-based Ed.D. students’ perceptions and preferences related to deficit and asset-based instructor feedback. The researchers collected data from 28 current Ed.D. students through a survey based on Henderson et al.'s (2016) Feedback for Learning questions. While students generally perceived feedback as asset-focused, they expressed a need for more growth-oriented, individualized responses. Additionally, male participants significantly perceived more asset-based feedback than females, suggesting that demographic alignment between instructors and students may influence perceptions around feedback. Implications suggest that Ed. D. faculty can enhance feedback practices by choosing transactional or transformative approaches based on students' needs and preferences, offering constructive critique while affirming students’ intellectual and individual assets. The findings indicate that institutions may benefit from fostering faculty reflection on implicit bias, supporting equitable feedback strategies, and considering how students, instructors, and educational systems perpetuate deficit thinking. Future research could examine feedback preferences across varied student populations, scale up the present study, integrate demographic information, such as race or ethnicity, into the study, and explore qualitative narratives to deepen understanding of how asset-based feedback supports meaningful learning among education doctoral students.
Recommended Citation
Simataa, Rebecca R.; O'Connell, Jordan; Johnson, Kateri; and Dufault, Christopher
(2025)
"Asset and Deficit Thinking: Ed.D. Students’ Perceptions and Preferences around their Instructors’ Feedback,"
Essays in Education: Vol. 31:
Iss.
2, Article 1.
Available at:
https://openriver.winona.edu/eie/vol31/iss2/1
Primary Author Bio Sketch
Becca Simataa is an adjunct education instructor for Saint Mary's University of Minnesota and is studying how instructors' feedback mirrors asset and deficit thinking through Winona State University's doctorate of education program.
Secondary Author Bio Sketch
Jordan O’Connell serves as an instructional designer and online instructor at Northeast Iowa Community College. He is currently an education doctoral student at Winona State University
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