“As good as your word”: Face-threat mitigation and the use of instructor nonverbal cues on students’ perceptions of digital feedback

Research has established that the delivery of instructor feedback is often considered a face-threatening event for students. To minimize the potential negative effects of feedback, verbal face-threat mitigation (FTM) strategies can be utilized by instructors. Advances in digital feedback systems, like online documents and learning management platforms, have allowed for instructors to add in additional nonverbal elements to this feedback, such as profile pictures or emojis. Two mixed method studies were employed to investigate the role of these nonverbal cues in digital feedback. Study 1 employed a 2 (presence or absence of FTM tactics) by 2 (presence or absence of instructor picture) experiment (N = 236) showing that FTM strategies have substantial positive impact on feedback and instructor perceptions, and that the inclusion of instructor pictures with this feedback has no effect. Study 2 utilized a 2 (presence or absence of FTM tactics) by 2 (presence or absence of matched-valence e