Madhuchanda,
Good job providing encouragement and instruction.
Dr. S. David Vaillancourt
Thomas,
Good work with the "we" approach.
Dr. S. David Vaillancourt
Don,
Good supportive and constructive feedback.
Dr. S. David Vaillancourt
Robert,
Good - I read your correction/follow-up.
Dr. S. David Vaillancourt
Apparently, I misread scenario 2. Since Kathy did do well, I would go over her responses in much the same way as I did with Mike. However, I would ask why she felt she did poorly. For each example she provided, I would ask what she thought she should have done better. Then, I would explain why her responses were acceptable/
Bob
In both cases, I will begin with acknowleding the effort they put into the assignment.
I will then move on to using the grading rubric to provide detailed feedback.
I will round up by encouraging them to keep up the good effort they put into their assignments.
I would compliment Mike at first on where he did really connect with the rubric and respond to the task at hand. I'd say that this is what we are really striving for.
Then I'd invite Mike to bring that same focus to the areas where he did less than that ... where he has more potential to develop. (I like your term "actionable feedback"!) I would suggest specific actions he could take to assist him in these weaker areas.
Finally I would ask if he needed any clarification about my suggestions, etc.
With Mary I would first compliment her on her solid assessment and suggest that this is a very helpful skill because we don't change unless we ourselves are aware of the need for it.
From there I might show specifically the distance from her performance to what the goal was and invite her to think about the steps needed to come closer to the goal. I could then offer some insights and options available about what needs to happen to bring her scores up to the level she is capable of.
Again, I would "close with an open door" and encourage her to contact me (or any other resource) at any point so that "we" can take these steps forward.
In my feedback to both Mike and Kathy I would be sure to maintain a focus on the things that they did right, rather than dwelling on things that they did wrong.
For Mike, I would then go on to specify what could have been done better, why it is important, and why his submission was not as good as it could have been. I would offer suggestions for studying, for requesting help, and emphasize that this grade is only one of many in the course and that I am here to guide him through the learning process.
My thoughts for Kathy would be similar, pointing out areas that could have been developed more, referencing course materials that would have helped, and of course, emphasizing that I am there to help when she needs it.
In scenario 1, I would thank MIke for completing the assignment and congratulate him on the issues he well-addressed. Then, I would address his ill-received responses. I would explain how the responses could have been improved by citing key aspects he missed in the material provided. I would reinforce that criticism by comparing his responses to the grading rubric. Furthermore, I would encourage him to reply to my feedback and ensure him I will listen to his side of the situation. If I see he has truly misunderstood the assignment, I may allow a resubmission.
In scenario 2, I would essentially repeat the process I used with Mike, but I would empathize with her understanding that she did not do a good job and ensure her she can do better. I would focus on helping her see where and how she could have used the material provided to improve her responses.
Bob
Scenario 1:
One of the best ways to communicate Mike’s concern it to point him to the grading rubric accompanying my feedback.
Grading rubric shows the requirements for assignment and the point breakdown on each requirement.
Having done so and if Mike still unsatisfied, it is important for me as instructor to set one on phone conversation to discuss this concern or any other concerns that Mike may have
Scenario 2:
In this situation, I would tell Kathy that she did mostly well on each requirements of the assignment and would expand a little further on any part of her solutions that she did well but there was a little bide lack of explanation.
The critical element in both of these seems to be a solid rubric, although it would be used in different ways. For Mike, we would want to show the elements and ask him how well he fulfilled each. He should be able to recognize that critical elements are missing and that the result was not the way he imagined it, wholistically. For Kathy, the key term is "making progress toward". We could show her that, although elements were not MASTERED, she dis how evidence of working toward mastery in these. This kind of formative feedback should guide the learner effectively.
Mara,
Andrew posted a good recommendation. If you "Google" the word you can browse for hours.
Dr. S. David Vaillancourt
Andrew,
Thank you. This looks like a good one of the many.
Dr. S. David Vaillancourt
Thanks for the suggestion. I'm somewhat limited in my use of the internet for social uses and don't really know the netiquette rules myself.
John, you may or may not find this true in your experiences however I have even had Nationality be a true indicator for some students of how we will grade and thus use this find a reason why they received the "less than favorable" grade. We can guide and remove barriers however the student must apply himself/herself to get anything out of the course.
A very effective online link where we can go to look at "Netiquette" is at http://www.albion.com/netiquette/corerules.html. Very interesting site!
David, and based on some of the comments of my students without saying it they feel some of the feedback they get does not provide an honest assessment thus without constructive feedback needed to improve. They know when they have not performed to the requirements so we need to enable their success with this honest feedback, yes.
First David I think we need to have Philosophy first therefore we replace "what gets measured gets done" with "what gets feedback gets done better". Actionable feedback has to be aligned with a couple of items in my mind: it has to be aligned with instructional priorities, some key actions that define what must be done to improve, and then a consistent tone to build proper performance while identifying good performance as well. The definition of what must be done to improve is critical in the first week so we can adjust the focus of the student so they what our priorities are what level of effort and accuracy constitutes acceptable performance in future assignments. In the end we reinforce institutional and instructional guidance in the formative feedback.
Donald,
Nice approach. I like the directness of your process toward the metacoginitive activities. Kathy's inaccurate eval may be an emotional distractor.
Dr. S. David Vaillancourt
Mara,
Yes, this is a good rule of thumb. Praise in public and correct (individually) in private.
Dr. S. David Vaillancourt
