I have received helpful comments on my work.

[from 2 old reap pages. to update]

How do you know that the feedback you give to students is really helping them to improve their understanding of the subject and their performance in future tasks? Feedback isn’t a one-way process - asking students about their experiences of feedback can help you to provide better information to students on their performance:

• Ask students to complete a cover sheet for assignments which includes a question on how they have used feedback from previous work
• Schedule face-to-face class sessions to discuss what students have understood about the course topic and what they don’t yet understand – Race (2005) suggests using post-it notes to collect information
• Set the class regular, short online tests so you can establish and concentrate on areas of weakness in class
• Ask students to respond to your feedback by asking them to answer questions such as: “the part of the feedback that puzzled me most was…” or “I need some more advice on…”
• Adopt an appreciative enquiry approach: ask students to reflect in a positive way on the feedback they have received and identify what aspects of the task they completed most successfully

Students often do not feel that they have received a sufficient level of detailed feedback even when teachers have worked hard to provide individual comments on essays or other assignments. Sometimes students do not recognise feedback even when it is offered to them and teachers can play a part in using the word ‘feedback’ as much as possible during activities like discussion of model answers in class for example. Sometimes students do not value the feedback that they receive, preferring instead to concentrate on marks rather than advice that may help them to improve future work. The following strategies may be useful in encouraging a greater emphasis on formative use of feedback opportunities:

• Show students examples of feedback comments given to previous students undertaking an assignment and discuss the meaning of the comments and how they might be used to improver performance
• Give feedback before marks to encourage students to concentre on the feedback first
• Ask students to formulate their own marks based on the feedback they receive and discuss any variance
• Make feedback comments readable and interesting – feedback comment banks can help to make provision of more detailed comments an efficient process but personalisation of comments is important too
• Encourage students to request the feedback they most value – for example, ask them to submit three questions that you can answer either individually or collate for the class and develop a ‘frequently-asked questions’ website or message-board
• Schedule time, perhaps in tutorials, for students to share feedback on their work and discuss common difficulties or successes
• Remember that feedback has a motivational impact on students – don’t just concentrate on areas that require improvement, but comment on good aspects of the work and explain why you were impressed. Take care over the words you use.