Why provide feedback to students

And because they are high achieving students, they all want to be challenged all the time. And so giving them things in the online environment that may be slightly out of what we want to achieve in the course, but it will be something that shows them how it extends beyond this course, so things like integrating it with other disciplines, like pathology or pharmacology, or those kinds of things.

So we use the online environment for lots of those kind of things. Share this post. Feedback is an important part of the assessment process. Want to keep learning? See other articles from this course. This article is from the online course:. News categories. Other top stories on FutureLearn. Category: General. This can be another source of disengagement in learning. To avoid these situations, Deci suggests fully explaining the purpose of any monitoring, and ensuring that learners understand how the feedback is meant to help them compete against their own personal bests rather than each other.

The importance of involving learners in the process of collecting and analyzing performance-based data cannot be understated. At the broadest level, students need to know if they actually have mastered the material or not. Giving them information about the ways they are studying, reading, searching for information, or answering questions can be invaluable.

When students have access to this information, they develop an awareness of their learning, and are more easily able to recognize mistakes and eventually develop strategies for tackling weak points themselves.

What seems very clear to us is not always seen that way by the students. In the comments that follow, three students reveal what they think about the feedback they get from their instructors. Like, what does 'AWK' mean, anyway? She gives me a grade, but I don't see where it came from. How can I do better if I don't understand? He has a list of common mistakes that tells us what do to about them.

He uses the terms to mark. That way, I know how to correct my own mistakes. What good was that?! The instructor blamed it on having to check his marking with the course supervisor. The bottom line in the above set of examples is that in giving feedback of any type, you should remember that there is another party to the communication.

While you're marking student work, try to imagine you are having a conversation with another person; this might help your feedback come across to them as words from a real person who is trying to help them do better. Your comments should help that other person understand not just what he or she did wrong, but what could be done the next time to do better. And it needs to be provided in a timeframe that allows that feedforward concept to work.

Read more about the feedback model in The power of feedback. Feedback needs to be timely. It needs to be given while there is still time for the learners to act on it and to monitor and adjust their own learning.

The practitioner will receive feedback from the way learners answer questions and the questions asked by them. In order to effectively gather evidence from questioning about who does and who does not understand it may be necessary to vary the way questions are asked in the classroom to ensure all learners are able to participate and provide evidence of their level of understanding.

This evidence should indicate whether it is necessary to reteach, provide more varied discussion and practice, use peer teaching or move the learners forward. Feedback on learning tasks also needs to be regular and provided as soon as possible after completion. Written, descriptive comments need to be in language that is accessible to the learners and should refer back to the preliminary discussion of learning goals and success criteria.

Effective feedback provides specific guidance on how to improve learning outcomes and it enables the learner to think about the learning involved in the task and not just the activity of completing the task. The amount of feedback needs to be limited to what learners can reasonably accept. It is recognised that making errors is a fundamental point in improving learning. Feedback on where the misunderstandings and misconceptions are occurring assists learners to move to greater understanding and success, to become more self-directed and to believe in their ability to complete tasks and reach goals.

Feedback on formal tasks that just includes marks or grades or comments that discuss level of performance and suggest that the learning journey is finished should be avoided. This can prevent the learner from fully considering and acting on the feedback. Multiple forms of feedback, such as comments, questions, and discussion provided frequently during learning encourage engagement and motivation to succeed. Effective feedback is understood by the recipient and motivates them to want to learn more effectively.

When practitioners develop sound professional relationships with learners based on mutual respect, feedback is a two-way process that supports progress in learning for the learners and understanding about where the learners are on the learning continuum for the practitioners.

It has a clear purpose and is well organised. It both develops and demonstrates learning through effective student reflection. The learner uses the higher order metacognitive skills to consider what they learned and self-assess what they need to focus on next to progress their learning.

Digital artefacts can be derived from learning activities across all learning domains. An effective digital portfolio can be used to celebrate achievement, demonstrate progress through comparison over time and guide future learning.

The production of a digital portfolio encourages a partnership between students and their teachers and increased student ownership and accountability for their own learning. A digital portfolio provides students, their parents and teachers with a rich record of learning.