Robert,
Right. Many times when we provide positive feedback to students, it may be the only positive thing they hear all day or all week. We have to keep being positive. Thanks!
Robert,
I use Chickering and Gamson's research quite often. It's good for F2F and online classes as well. I recently did a study using Chickering and Gamson's seven principles and the Quality Matters rubric standards for higher education. It's interesting to think about these principles in may ways. Thanks!
I liked your response about sharing with the student the things that were done well. At the least the student may have submitted the assignment on time! Making feedback personal with use of the student's name, a personal note that their work has been consistently strong, or mentioning that you know the student can do better.
"Knowing what you know and don't know focuses learning. Students need appropriate feedback on performance to benefit from courses. When getting started, students need help in assessing existing knowledge and competence. In classes, students need frequent opportunities to perform and receive suggestions for improvement. At various points during college, and at the end, students need chances to reflect on what they have learned, what they still need to know, and how to assess themselves."—Arthur W. Chickering and Zelda F. Gamson (1987). Seven principles for good practice in undergraduate education, AAHE Bulletin 39(7), 3–7.
More than a quote it should become an instructor’s mantra. I encourage students to study the rubrics and review them in our class live chat when reviewing the assignments.
If I observe a student has missed some of the assignment questions a review and resubmit session is offered. It may be a matter of misunderstanding the assignment questions, requirements, research methods, or criteria. In which case a nod via email often motivates a student to correct their work and thereby learn the concepts being taught.
It is also important for students to know when their work will be graded. Assignments due by the end of Sunday are graded by the end of Monday. Grades are entered with comments specifically tied to their work. It a paper cites St. Luke’s Medical Center, the comments refer to the same site. This enables students to know the work has been read and the comments can be made more pertinent.
Hannah,
Glad you are learning from these discussions and thanks for your input. We continue to learn from each other. We have to be sure we are providing meaningful feedback to all students. Thanks!
Dr. Crews,
Great discussion question! Feedback is such an important part of online teaching! I think that three of the most important things to remember when developing meaningful feedback for assignments and projects are the following:
1) Ensure that you always start off by telling the student what they did correct in the assignment (sometimes this is a stretch, but the student always did do something right - so start by commenting on this);
2) Make sure that you give constructive feedback so that the student knows how he/she can improve for future assignments;
3) Make sure that the feedback is actually feedback that can really be applied to future assignments - comment in a way such that the student can actually utilize your comments.
Thanks for the chance to comment Dr. Crews!
Hannah
Ejike,
Good rubrics can alleviate much confusion and provide for more consistent evaluation. It's a tool that helps all involved. Thanks.
Ejike and Sara,
Timeliness is essential. How else can students improve before they move on to the next assignment. Good job. Thanks for your input.
Christine,
Excellent points. These factors certainly would help students improve and move toward the learning objectives. Thanks for your input.
Harprit,
Yes, I love that you noted how the feedback should enhance student learning. It's important that the students understand that as well. Nice job.
Dr. Crews,
The most important things to remember when developing meaningful feedback for assignments/projects are:
1. The feedback must be personalized to each student.
2. Provide learning resources for the questions that the students missed so he/she can improve her understanding of the topic.
3. Deliver timely and as much as possible, detailed feedback.
-Christine
Providing feedback to students is critical for learning. Feedback must be conveyed in a positive tone, that is specific, and detailed to enhance student learning.
Sara,
I also believe that feedback should be timely. A timely feedback will help students with future assignments. It will also help them to identify what they did wrong. If feedback is not provided in a timely manner, students may not be able to learn from their past mistakes before submitting future assignments.
I believe that it is important to base feedback on rubrics because it provides a meaningful feedback and promotes learning. Rubrics make the assessment process transparent. It also helps to alleviate confusion and questions from students. In addition, it also saves time. If rubrics are provided for students, it is assumed that students will crosscheck their answers with the rubrics to ensure that all questions are covered and that all answers are tied to the rubrics.
Michelle,
And, the "in-between" comments don't have to be negative, but constructive. Constructive comments will help the students improve. Thanks!
3 most important things to remember:
It needs to be specific
Use sandwich method--sandwich negative comments between positive comments
Feedback needs to give future guidance -- don't just say what's wrong, tell how to correct or how to improve in future
M Boddy
Maureen and Donna,
Thanks for your continued conversation. We can all improve in our teaching and it's good to assess and figure out what can be changed and make appropriate edits. Thanks!
Donna, thank you for your lesson in feedback. I am going to review and educate how I can improve. It's not that I do bad, it's that I could stand to improve, I think. Bears studying. Thanks.
Erika,
Again, remember to connect everything to the objectives. This helps students move forward as well. Thanks.
The three most important things to remember are:
1. Creating a rubric to help yourself and your students
2. How will you communicate this feedback in a sensitive way to communicate to your student their strong and weak points
3. Must be extremely detailed and specific so that students can use specific advice to improve
