Strong, helpful feedback is such a powerful tool that we have in our ‘Instructor Tool Box’ and don’t use nearly as well as we could. Nor do we often recognize the value that our feedback has. We kind of slide it to the bottom of our tool box and focus more on a quick comment with a grade. The argument is always something along the lines of: “students don’t care about what we say about their work; they only want their mark”. But I assure you, that is not true; students very much care about what you offer as feedback, especially when it is balanced, specific, and learning focused.

BALANCED FEEDBACK

Balanced feedback is both compassionate and honest. When we hit learners with all of the ‘red pen instances’ (harkening back to our own experiences), we are simply pointing out what they did wrong. But think about how good it feels when someone catches you in the middle of doing something right, and points it out. We need to do the same thing in our feedback to learners. Don’t just point out what they didn’t do correctly, point out what they DID do well, and be specific. If you tell a young child, “I like the way you put your books away when you were finished reading” they will be motivated to do the same thing again. That doesn’t change as we get older. Thus, when you tell a learner, “I like the way you connected these examples to the modules in our course”, they will feel good about that decision, and put a great deal of effort into repeating it later.

Using praise – If this is difficult for you, make a note to pay close attention to the section on Specific Feedback. If praise is not specific, it won’t be viewed as genuine. Likewise, if praise is given all the time, and not balanced with other constructive feedback, it won’t be viewed as genuine. Recognize what they did right, but do so in a genuine (and specific) way.

Giving constructive feedback – Feedback should also include elements of what the learner can do differently next time. Gone are the days of crossing out an entire section in red pen and writing “No” across the effort (or those days should be gone); however, it is still important to provide information about what is missing, or needs modifying. Rather than using words like “should” or “but” in your feedback, try “could” or “and”. Notice the impact each of these statements make:

Another great tool for giving constructive feedback is the phrase “it would be helpful if…”

• “It would be helpful if you show more of your work so I can see how you arrived at the result”.
• “Your opening was strong and the body of your paper was thorough. It would be helpful if you enhanced the conclusion with a few more details”.

The value of the word “enhance” – When we ask someone to include something in their work, it says to them “you completely missed this”. When we ask them to enhance something, it says “this part was good, keep going or do more of it”. The impact is different on the reader.

SPECIFIC FEEDBACK

How helpful would it be if I told you “good job!”, “better luck next time” or “you’re so awesome to work with”? It might feel good – or it might not, depending on what is said – but feedback that is general in nature does not add any value at all. It simply impacts our feelings. In the next section I will talk about learning focused feedback, which is tied to being specific, but the key here is to answer the unasked question of “why?” More specific feedback adds so much more value because it tells the learner what to keep doing, or what to do differently.

LEARNING FOCUSED FEEDBACK

If the goal of giving feedback is not focused on supporting learning, then why are we giving that feedback? Be sure to ask yourself, “how is this feedback adding to the learning?” And, equally important: “am I omitting some feedback that could add to the learning, but I am afraid of hurting the learner’s feelings?” If this is the case, refer to the earlier section on giving constructive feedback. Excellent feedback helps to expand the learning, even after the assessment is complete. Learning focused feedback is essential for your learners so that they can use what you have written when they complete their next activity or assignment.

To summarize:

Balanced feedback – share what they did well, in addition to what was missing. Ensure the praise is genuine and not over-used. Watch the “shoulds” and “buts”.

Specific feedback – answer the question “why” whenever you are providing feedback. Ensure that you’ve included enough detail for learners to understand what they did well, and what was missing.

Learning focused feedback – Don’t leave out anything of value because it is difficult to say (you’re cheating the learning) and be sure to omit anything that does not contribute to the learning.

With these techniques in your toolbox (kept at the top where you can use them most often), your learners will not only be interested in the mark that they received, but they will also appreciate the qualitative feedback that you gave them. This type of feedback adds to their learning, and they will more than likely acknowledge it in your course evaluations or directly through email or conversations with you.

Want specific help with your skills in giving feedback? Write to me and I can help!