2.2 Effective feedback
Feedback helps to guide and steer learners, to know what they have done well and what can be further developed. The feedback process can also be a good opportunity to help learners identify their own success in overcoming particular challenges. Resilient skills, and the encouragement to use these skills in the future, can be developed when individuals reflect on their challenges and success (Baker et al., 2021). So, it is worth considering the style and nature of the feedback you provide, and the way in which this is presented to learners.
Fear of judgement might cause learners to ignore or reject their feedback and it may evoke a negative emotional response (Ryan and Henderson, 2018). To support learners in responding positively and feeling less stressed about the feedback process you could also focus on the ‘invisible outcomes’ (more on these later) of the assessment process. For example, such an outcome could be that a learner has developed a revision timetable or improved their writing style. Ensuring that learners’ efforts are recognised has been shown to encourage more positive emotions (Lynam and Cachia, 2018).
Cath Brown, a former President of the Open University Students Association who, at the time of writing, is an Associate Lecturer for the University, has developed a series of useful tips on providing learner feedback. Below is a summary of the main ones:
- Ensure that feedback focuses on the work, rather than using personalised language. For example, instead of ‘You haven’t understood X’ consider ‘The answer hasn’t shown your grasp of X’.
- Give specific feedback with examples, such as explaining exactly where an error is and how it can be corrected.
- Recognise improvement to motivate your learner.
- Offer hope, by including suggestions, tips and resources on what the learner can do to improve.
- Create an open environment to encourage opportunities to discuss feedback.
No matter how good your feedback is, sometimes learners will be disappointed to receive a low score or grade. In situations such as this, Lister and Coughlan (n.d.) suggest making your feedback gentle but to the point and providing practical examples of where the learner can improve. They also go on to suggest that strengths should be identified and with explaination, of why they were positive, and that scheduling catch-up, confidence-boosting or supportive activities can also be beneficial.