In a recent conversation via the National Institute for Scientific Teaching, STEM educators gathered to discuss practical strategies aimed at improving teaching and learning. One of the outcomes was a discussion on how to provide thoughtful and relevant feedback to students. Some of the key points and related resources are mentioned below:
Wiggins (2012) defines feedback as information about how we are doing in our efforts to reach a goal. Helpful feedback is goal-referenced; tangible and transparent; actionable; user-friendly (specific and personalized); timely; ongoing; and consistent. He notes, “the term feedback is often used to describe all kinds of comments made after the fact, including advice, praise, and evaluation. But none of these are feedback, strictly speaking”.
Ryan (2021) adds, In writing feedback, it is important to ask: What is the goal of this piece of feedback?
Impact: actionable info for students to use to improve future iterations of the assignment
Ex: “Each subsection within Results should begin with a sentence explaining the purpose of that particular experiment.”
Advice: Be clear and specific in what actions should be taken, don’t lump multiple actions together in one comment.
Sensemaking – comments to highlight strengths/weaknesses of the assignment
Ex: “You provided a concise and clear definition of the key concepts.”
Advice: Use specific adjectives rather than general descriptors. When making critiques, avoid the “compliment sandwich” as this obscures the message. Make criticism constructive and focused on the work rather than the student.
Agency – comments encouraging the student to take an active role in improving by seeking support/resources to improve
Ex: “Review the textbook section on photosynthesis,” “For formatting citations, please refer to the style guide.”
Advice: Separate these comments from other types of comments (impact or sensemaking).
How do we give feedback in a way that is mindful of faculty time and energy?
A few suggestions from faculty from a variety of disciplines include:
Weekly Formative Exams and Creative Grading
An outline for weekly learning activities (in-class, at-home) is provided to students. Each week ends with an in-class test during the first half of class (becomes cumulative as course progresses) with a sizable amount of time that day for feedback on performance through peer interaction and faculty instruction.(Baily et. al., 2017)
Use feedback oriented online exercises
Groups of multiple-choice questions surrounding a clinical cases study were created and ordered, so that when combined, they modeled good short answers to a question surrounding a clinical scenario. These were “practice” problems, preparing for a summative exam. Students’ outcomes on the exam were improved if they did the exercises. The question remains if improvement was due to increased interaction with the material or learning the approach to formatting their written answers. (Carnegie, 2015)
Student Engagement Structures for Feedback
“Peer feedback and analyzing exemplars are two particularly promising ways of generating internal feedback and promoting student feedback literacy.” (Carless, 2022, p. 145) “Internal feedback is the new knowledge that students generate when they compare their current knowledge and competence against some reference information” (Nicol, 2021).
Use a written response for peer reviews. Students need to be coached to provide meaningful peer reviews in written form.
For large format classes, tools like PeerMark by Turnitin, Hypothesis, or Perusall could be used. Eli Review models a describe-evaluate-suggest approach for student’ written peer review comments. Others?
Students submit a draft, then look at a detailed rubric and/or several exemplars.
“… the input comes from the exemplars and/or rubric and there are incentives for students to engage actively with the material in order to revise their draft….” (Carless 2022, p. 148)
It is also important to remember that it is not enough for students to receive feedback. They also need explicit opportunities to implement and practice with the feedback received.
Assigning students a revision memo or revision report is another promising engagement strategy (e.g., https://owl.excelsior.edu/argument-and-critical-thinking/revising-your-argument/revising-your-argument-revision-strategies/ ).
Further Reading:
admin. (2021, April 19). Team-based quizzes on no budget. Amanda Loves to Audit. https://amandalovestoaudit.com/2021/04/team-based-quizzes-on-no-budget/
Bailey, E. G., Jensen, J., Nelson, J., Wiberg, H. K., & Bell, J. D. (2017). Weekly Formative Exams and Creative Grading Enhance Student Learning in an Introductory Biology Course. CBE—Life Sciences Education, 16(1), ar2. https://doi.org/10.1187/cbe.16-02-0104
Basey, J. M., Maines, A. P., & Francis, C. D. (2014). Time Efficiency, Written Feedback, and Student Achievement in Inquiry-Oriented Biology Labs. International Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, 8(2). https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ1135240
Carnegie, J. (2015). Use of Feedback-Oriented Online Exercises to Help Physiology Students Construct Well-Organized Answers to Short-Answer Questions. CBE—Life Sciences Education, 14(3), ar25. https://doi.org/10.1187/cbe.14-08-0132
Carless, D. (2022). From teacher transmission of information to student feedback literacy: Activating the learner role in feedback processes. Active Learning in Higher Education, 23(2), 143–153.
Nicol, D., & McCallum, S. (2022). Making internal feedback explicit: exploiting the multiple comparisons that occur during peer review. Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education, 47(3), 424–443.
Ryan, T., Henderson, M., Ryan, K., & Kennedy, G. (2021a). Identifying the components of effective learner-centred feedback information. Teaching in Higher Education, 1–18. https://doi.org/10.1080/13562517.2021.1913723
Ryan, T., Henderson, M., Ryan, K., & Kennedy, G. (2021b). Designing learner-centred text-based feedback: a rapid review and qualitative synthesis. Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education, 46(6), 894–912. https://doi.org/10.1080/02602938.2020.1828819
Ryan, T., Henderson, M., Ryan, K., & Kennedy, G. (2022). Feedback in higher education: aligning academic intent and student sensemaking. Teaching in Higher Education, 1–16. https://doi.org/10.1080/13562517.2022.2029394
Wiggins, G. (2012). Seven keys to effective feedback. Feedback, 70(1), 10–16.
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