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2 |
Assessing student work |
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2.1
Giving feedback to students
Introduction - why give feedback?
Learning is an active process. To learn, we need to plan what we're going to do; attempt to do it; and then receive feedback on our work. (more on how we learn in 1st word 1.12). We then use this feedback to improve the work we have just done; or, more often in education, to ensure that the next work we do embraces what we have learned. Feedback also affects how we feel about our work, and inevitably also about ourselves; feedback thus also affects student motivation.
Students learn like this, given half a chance. And the feedback remains essential. They may even snooze through the odd few minutes of a lecture or seminar, but they will read, pore over, analyse, debate, argue with, and quite possibly treasure, your feedback. Especially if the feedback is written to be useful.
Giving good feedback is a skill which can be learned and honed. This 1st word on giving feedback should help you to give feedback which merits such intense attention from your students
What will this "first word" do?
It should help you to:
- React positively to good things in students' work;
- Make helpful suggestions on ways in which their work could have been improved;
- Correct misapprehensions revealed in their work;
- Make suggestions for how they can change their approach in the future;
- Do this in a way which respects the individuality and worth of each student;
- Do this in a way which makes good and efficient use of your time;
This 1st word also links to getting feedback from students outside a class. Student work contains lots of feedback for teacher on their teaching!
The feedback sandwich
Not surprisingly, the Open University has done a lot of work on giving useful feedback to students. (By 'useful' here we mean feedback meets the needs of the learners and the obligations of the course and the tutor.)
- The Open University recommend the feedback sandwich.
First, give them the good news.
They need to know what they've done right, or well. They need to know this so that they'll keep on doing it right or well, and also because it will make them feel appropriately good about themselves and their work, which in itself aids learning as well as feeling good.
They also need to know why it was right or good. Learners sometimes do well by accident - so tell them why it was right or good, in what respects it was right or good.
Good news needs to be:
- Clear Don't beat about the bush. If you think it was 'great' or 'excellent' or 'admirable' or 'very stimulating', then say so. Have the courage of your convictions. (Don't worry about using clichés!)
- Specific Words like 'great' or 'excellent' carry a strong emotional message, but when the emotional buzz fades, the intellectual hunger remains. As we suggested above, say what, exactly what, was good and say why it was good.
- Personal That is, make the person you're giving feedback to feel acknowledged as an individual. This will get easier as you get to know your students. Using their name in the feedback helps - "Emma, I thought they way you handled this was both valid and original. I particularly liked the way you ....."
- Honest As well as truthful, honest good news clearly distinguishes between fact and judgement. A numerical answer is 'right'; this is a fact. A design was undertaken 'rigorously'; this is an opinion, though hopefully based on clear criteria for 'rigour'. An argument was 'original'; a fact, at any rate relative to your own current knowledge. An argument was 'elegant'; an opinion, or at any rate a judgement. Be clear what the nature of your good news is.
Next, give them bad news - constructively!- and tell them why it is bad and what to do about it
They also need to know what they've done wrong, or poorly, or performed in some other way which is inappropriate within the subject. And, immediately and always, they need to know in what respects it was wrong or poor or inappropriate, and they need suggestions on ways in which it could have been correct or better.
In primarily numerical or scientific disciplines, where some at least of the answers to some of the questions can be right or wrong, reasons for giving prompt and reasoned feedback on wrong answers include:
- So that the learner won't repeat the specific error;
- So that they can identify the misunderstanding which led to the error;
- So that they can develop a new and correct understanding.
In disciplines where answers are more likely to be considered good or bad rather than primarily right or wrong, reasons for giving this kind of feedback on poor answers include:
- To help them appreciate why their approach or answer was inappropriate;
- To help the learner see the preferred approach;
Bad news needs to be:
- Specific Make it clear to what you are reacting - which word, which idea, which equation, which stylistic feature. Make it clear in what respects the work is wrong, inappropriate, whatever it is.
- Constructive Suggest how the work could have been made accurate, good, conforming to the paradigm of the subject, whatever. Suggest sources of information and guidance. Give them a handle, encouragement, whatever seems right.
- Kind Specific is kind. Constructive is kind. "Poor" scribbled at the bottom is cruel.
- Honest (See above under 'good news')
Finally, end of a high note of encouragement.
Round off your feedback with a high note and encouragement. "You really seem to be getting to grips with this", "Your analytic skills are improving steadily", "You're making good use of evidence". Say whatever you can that's encouraging and truthful. There's usually something that meets these two criteria.
Giving feedback more efficiently
Students often greatly value useful feedback on their work. Feedback is individual attention, an individual response. Your carefully considered comments on their work, your suggestions on how they could have tackled the work differently, your suggestions for a particular piece of further reading which casts important new light on the topic all these will be very well received.
The trouble is, you probably don't have an hour or more to spend giving feedback to each student on their work. How can you make sure the students get quality feedback on their work without you staying up all night providing it? There are several ways:
Give feedback in terms of explicit criteria
1st word 2.4 says more about designing and using assessment criteria. In short, the idea is to say in advance what will be the characteristics of a good piece of work for this assignment. Some of these criteria may be universal : 'the right number of words', 'clearly presented'. Others will be more specific 'each step clearly described and explained'; 'appropriate use of varied and novel sources'; 'calculations accurate'; 'imaginative and empathic account'
Feedback from themselves and each other
1st word 2.5, on using self and peer assessment, describes some ways in which students can give themselves and each other feedback on their work.
Here, we focus on ways in which you can give good feedback in a reasonable amount of time.
Only give feedback on one aspect of their work each time
Say you require three sets of work from each student during the module. For example, in the first set of feedback you could concentrate all your feedback on the factual accuracy and the content of their work. On the second you could focus on the quality of argument and reasoning. In the third, on presentation and referencing. Choose your own aspects.
Give audio feedback
Record your immediate reactions onto a cassette as you read through their work, not a carefully considered response after you've finished reading. This gives them feedback quickly, personally, directly, and cheaply.
Use attachment sheets
List the ten or twenty (or more) comments, corrections, observations which you're most likely to make in giving feedback; in general or on this work. Write them up as a list with space for ticks, or as a numbered list. Add space at the top for the student's name, course, assignment name.
Print as many copies as there are pieces of work to assess. Then you can 'give feedback by numbers'! On the list, tick the comments which apply to the piece of work you're marking. Or, a bit more sophisticated, place the number of the comment alongside where it applies in the student's work.
This gets individual feedback to each student. It saves you the need to write out the same comments lots of times. It leaves you some time to make individual comments on errors or strokes of brilliance which aren't on your pre-printed list. Here's an example of a tick-list:
| Psychology Practical Comment Sheet |
| Name: | Date Submitted |
|
|
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| Practical: |
| Mark: | Marker: |
|
| Checklist of Comments |
| TITLE |
| Present | Appropriate | Accurate | Too short | Too long |
| ABSTRACT |
| Present | Correctly headed | Length 150 - 200 words | Clear | At beginning of report |
| Includes hypothesis | Includes aim of practical | Includes experimental design | Includes procedure |
|
| Includes result | Includes conclusion | Clear Succinct |
|
| Contains material which belongs elsewhere , e.g. . . . |
| INTRODUCTION |
| Present | Correctly headed | Length 250 - 350 words | Too similar to handout |
|
| Tightly structured | Includes hypothesis | Includes rationale | Reviews previous findings |
|
| Refers to relevant readings | Good use of references | Uses relevant theories | Well argued
|
|
| Some material included here belongs elsewhere, e.g. . . . |
| . . . and so on for each section of the report, concluding with some general comments on the work as a whole. ¹ |
¹ Dr R. Paton and Dr S. Fearnley.
Conclusion
These suggestions will help you give useful feedback to students, and to do so efficiently. A few more points to remember and act on.
- Your negative comments have a more powerful impact on students than do your positive ones. Go easy on the negatives; use them where appropriate, but always back them up with suggestions on how to do better next time.
- Students are very interested in marks and grades. On ungraded work, they may take more interest in your feedback if you tell them what grade it would have got, and why, and what they could have done to get a higher grade.
- Protect your own time. Note how long the first set of feedback you give takes. Use some of the methods suggested here to make your feedback-giving more efficient. Keep noting how long you spend on feedback.
- Ask your students how useful they find your feedback, and what you could do to make it more useful to them. They'll probably be happy to tell you!
Last modified: Friday, 24-Jul-09 09:29:27 BST