Delivering + Receiving Feedback

Offering feedback to students is essential for several reasons. It helps them understand their strengths and areas for improvement, enhancing their grasp of the material. When delivered effectively, feedback can boost students’ confidence and motivation and encourage critical thinking and self-reflection.

However, if feedback is vague or poorly communicated, it can be unhelpful, non-inclusive, and potentially harmful. Finding balance is key!

In grading for growth, Talbert and Clark suggest that feedback loops “are at the centre of alternative grading practices” and when partnered with an ability to try again, is when real learning happens (p. 29).

Student Feedback Literacy (engaging students in the feedback)

“The most ubiquitous form of evaluation, grading, is so much a part of the school landscape that we easily overlook its utter uselessness as actionable feedback. Grades are here to stay, no doubt—but that doesn’t mean we should rely on them as a major source of feedback.”

Grant Wiggins

Feedback literacy refers to the ability of students and educators to effectively engage with feedback processes to enhance teaching and learning outcomes. It aims to empower students and instructors to gain a deeper understanding of feedback and to actively engage with it.

Student literacy can be encouraged through peer and self-evaluation, reflection and feedback dialogue. Feedback seeking is a strategy that could be worked into an assignment to intentionally encourage students to identify areas where added support is needed.

Another way to encourage feedback literacy is “feedforward”. This strategy, designed by a management expert, encourages instructors to stop looking at the bad, focus on the good, and celebrate learning.

Article on feedback literacy

  • Goal-referenced
    Effective feedback requires that a person has a goal, takes action to achieve the goal, and receives goal-related information about his or her actions.
  • Tangible and transparent
    Any useful feedback system involves not only a clear goal, but also tangible results related to the goal.
  • Actionable
    Effective feedback is concrete, specific, and useful; it provides actionable information. (Judgement vs. observation)
  • User-Friendly
    Even if feedback is specific and accurate in the eyes of experts or bystanders, it is not of much value if the user cannot understand it or is overwhelmed by it.
  • Timely (not necessarily immediate)
    In most cases, the sooner I get feedback, the better.
  • Ongoing
    Adjusting our performance depends on not only receiving feedback but also having opportunities to use it.
  • Consistent
    Clearly, performers can only adjust their performance successfully if the information fed back to them is stable, accurate, and trustworthy.
  • Criticism is focused on what we don’t want; feedback is focused on what we want.
  • Criticism is focused on the past; feedback is focused on the future.
  • Criticism is focused on weakness; feedback helps to build up strengths.
  • Criticism deflates; feedback inspires.
  • Criticism says, “You are the problem.” Feedback says, “We can make this better.”
  • Remain objective
  • Depersonalize feedback
  • Avoid inflammatory language
  • Offer solutions
  • Base feedback on expectations/standard of excellence (not perfection)
  • Relate to your personal experience
  • Keep it positive!
  • Don’t take it personally
  • Actively listen to feedback
  • Remind yourself of the purpose of feedback
  • Analyze feedback
  • Prepare a plan to implement valid suggestions

Feedback Strategies

Scaffolding resources:

Handout of this page: PDF Version