Adapted S.P.A.R.K. model for coding peer feedback quality

Research Method · All research methods
Evidence · 3 claims (3 for) · 1 study (1 causal), q3 · 0 of 1 report an effect size · 3 claims rest on one study

Description

The S.P.A.R.K. mnemonic, from Gardner (2019), presents five recommended traits of feedback: "it should be Specific, Prescriptive, Actionable, Referenced, Kind." Because the original points were memorization suggestions rather than a coding scheme, the authors adapted the definitions — revising the overlapping "prescriptive" and "actionable" criteria for a tighter distinction — and used the adapted scheme in NVIVO to code sampled comments. Double coding of 30% of comments per group yielded a Cohen's Kappa of 0.83 with 95.2% inter-rater agreement.

Accounts

• Adapted S.P.A.R.K. model for coding peer feedback quality: The S.P.A.R.K. mnemonic, from Gardner (2019), presents five recommended traits of feedback: "it should be Specific, Prescriptive, Actionable, Referenced, Kind." Because the original points were memorization suggestions rather than a coding scheme, the authors adapted the definitions — revising the overlapping "prescriptive" and "actionable" criteria for a tighter distinction — and used the adapted scheme in NVIVO to code sampled comments. Double coding of 30% of comments per group yielded a Cohen's Kappa of 0.83 with 95.2% inter-rater agreement. (George Gyamfi et al. (2024))

Claims

• The guide increased the percentage of feedback comments displaying at least one S.P.A.R.K. quality trait [+M]
• Specific feedback was the most common trait and actionable feedback the least common in both trained and untrained groups [+M]
• The guide increased co-occurrence of multiple S.P.A.R.K. traits within a single feedback comment [+M]

Related Research Methods

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Key Sources

• George Gyamfi, Barbara E. Hanna, Hassan Khosravi. (2024). Impact of an instructional guide and examples on the quality of feedback: insights from a randomised controlled study. Education Tech Research Dev. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11423-024-10346-0

Page metadata

Field	Value
type	research-method
id	adapted-spark-model-for-coding-peer-feedback-quality
title	Adapted S.P.A.R.K. model for coding peer feedback quality
description	The S.P.A.R.K.
status	review
generated	by process:settle-candidates on 2026-10-29
trust	unverified — no one has confirmed this page's content

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