Feedback to Support Learning
Feedback to Support Learning
In the context of teaching and learning, feedback is information about how students are progressing towards a learning goal. Effective feedback involves an ongoing exchange and, ideally, a dialogue between instructors and students aimed at improvement and growth (Boud and Dawson, 2021). Students benefit from receiving information about how they are doing when they are actively and continuously engaged in the feedback process (Winstone et al, 2017).
Not all students are prepared to use feedback to deepen or advance their learning and, as Carless (2011) suggests, it may be important for instructors to build students’ feedback literacy. In addition, experience giving and receiving feedback also contributes to students’ interpersonal development and helps them to provide and receive feedback in their professional and personal lives, both during their studies and after graduation.
Essentials of Effective Feedback
Wiggins (2012) offers seven key essential characteristics of effective feedback:
- Goal-referenced - Provide feedback that is goal-oriented, conveys information that informs students that they are on track or need to make a change. This feedback should align to the learning outcomes of the course. Effective feedback motivates students to improve.
- Tangible and Transparent - Feedback on two or three concrete areas is beneficial for students to improve future assignments.
- Actionable - The feedback is concrete, specific and useful. This feedback informs students of steps they can take to improve their work.
- User-Friendly - Students must be able to read and understand the feedback that is provided to them in order to use it. Good feedback motivates students and encourages them to improve.
- Timely - Provide feedback to students in a timely manner so that they can use it to improve their work--ideally within a week or two of completing the assignment, and well before the next assignment is due. Summarize the main areas of feedback in an email to the entire class or post in the course learning management system, so all students can benefit.
- Ongoing - Provide continuous feedback throughout the term so that it can be used for current and future assignments.
- Consistent - Apply a rubric to yield accurate, stable and trustworthy feedback that students can use to guide the improvement of their work.
Examples of Feedback Techniques
The following feedback techniques provide instructors with an opportunity to provide feedback to students on their progress and allow students to reflect on their own knowledge and skill development:
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Targeted Feedback in Science Labs
- Intent: Provide specific feedback on lab reports that include experiments, reporting data, scientific writing and conclusions.
- Technique: Use a rubric to create opportunities for formative feedback on student lab reports where students assess their own work against the rubric, submit their work, ask the TA to refine the feedback and invite students to integrate feedback into subsequent versions of the report.
- Resource: Best Practices for Grading Laboratory Reports - University of Michigan
Structured Feedback on Academic Writing
- Intent: Discern the type of feedback required (corrective, directive, interactive, evaluative) to focus on higher order structure, expectations for writing in the discipline and within the writing genre to help students understand and act upon the feedback.
- Technique: Provide focused guidance, share exemplars of effective disciplinary writing such as science papers, policy papers or executive summaries of research.
- Resource: Strategies for Feedback on Writing - Purdue University
Team-Based Feedback
- Intent: Strengthen team and small group learning online or face-to-face with coaching from the TA or instructor.
- Technique: Students sign up for detailed team coaching from a TA or instructor. Schedule office hours for the team on a regular basis; use team-based feedback rubrics about team functioning, evaluation of progress as well as individual contributions in teamwork.
- Resource: Assessing Teamwork - University of Western Ontario
Critical Reflection by Peers
- Intent: Deepen analysis and constructive feedback given by peers on team projects.
- Technique: To support peer critiques in design projects, consider using a framework to support students’ critical thinking about criteria and to provide honest critique and feedback to support design projects discussions and iterations.
- Resource: Giving meaningful feedback using the RISE model (reflect, inquire, suggest, elevate) - Queen’s University
Peer Feedback on Honours Research Projects
- Intent: Provide feedback on the application of the research process and components of effective research projects including the literature review, methodology of research, the research findings and conclusions. Plan feedback strategically throughout the term to prepare students for the final project or capstone assignment.
- Technique: Use a peer feedback approach that simulates the practice of peer review, students can provide feedback to each other on the first draft, and practice responding to reviewer suggestions.
- Resource: Peer feedback - Oxford University
“Veedback” on Multimedia Projects
- Intent: Model use of digital media to convey a message of feedback to students that is meaningful and that students will take up the feedback and apply it to improving their work.
- Technique: Use “Veedback” - video feedback.
- Resource: Enriching students’ experience with Video Feedback - Taylor Institute, University of Calgary
Polling in Large Lectures
- Intent: Give instructors and students insight into knowledge and skill development during the course.
- Technique: Polling students on concepts to explore understanding provides direct response in front of the whole class; helps students reflect on their own progress, misconceptions can be addressed immediately by instructors and further feedback can be done through the LMS, compiled and provided to the entire class.
- Resource: Polling Students in Large Lectures - Berkeley
PRACTICAL RESOURCES
- Giving and Receiving Effective Feedback - University of Waterloo
- Instructor Guide for Giving Feedback - Purdue University
- Principles of Good Feedback - McGill University
- Providing Meaningful Feedback on Students' Academic Performance - IDEA Centre
Try This...
- Give feedback in the form of a short audio or video recording. Files can be uploaded to Canvas or sent by email.
- After grading major assignments, share and review a one-page summary of common feedback points with the whole class to help everyone improve.
- Discuss the overall characteristics of exemplary assignments in the summary. “What did the students who received an A do well? What was missing from C papers?"
- Reduce the workload by using an electronic copy of the rubric and highlighting relevant sections for the student, then adding personalized comments. Return via Canvas.
- Use an exam wrapper: Invite students to reflect on the feedback they receive and submit one or two ways they will take up the feedback in their next assignment.
- In experiential learning courses, consider inviting community partners or employers to provide feedback on a student showcase or poster presentations.
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