Feedback
Students need to receive feed back that makes sense according to the assignment. That is, students ought to have had a guideline for what was expected in the assignment so they can see where they succeeded or fell short.
Secondly, students should receive feedback relatively quickly. That is, if they have to wait a long time before seeing the responses, then they might have forgotten the assignment and what was expected of them in the first place.
Third, students might benefit from a rubric-type of grade system so they can visually see where they need to make improvements. This would be especially true if they have the same problem one assignment after another.
What do you think? Have I missed something vital?
Barbara,
I like to use Adobe Connect to have online office hours. Thanks for your input.
Barbara,
We have to review our rubrics to make sure they are measuring what we want it to measure and it provides enough detail/criteria so that students can improve. Thanks.
It would be nice to have some type of office area to chat with student, outside of a phone call.
I think it is tough to give feedback to a student who has done all of the work exactly as they should. What can you tell them to improve on? Students don't understand that C work is average and that just meeting the requirements is not worthy of an A or B, unless they have gone above and beyond. Sometimes rubrics are not specific enough, or don't match the assignment.
Paula,
No only do students want to know what they are doing wrong, but why is it wrong? We need to provide such information to help them improve. Thanks for your input.
I think you have correctly mentioned the feedback that is needed. Students want to learn and they want to know what is expected of them. By providing the guidelines it gives them the structure they need. They also want to know when they are doing something incorrectly and I have found that they welcome the opportunity to correct it. It is also important to give positive feedback because it encourages and motivates them.
Paula
Dahlia,
Definitely. The more clearly the expectations, assignments, projects, etc. are explained, the less the misunderstandations. Thanks!
Through my experience if the requirements are not clearly stated many times the students misunderstand the assignment.
James,
You're right - that "cooler office talk" is no longer the F2F option when teaching online. Keep up the communication.
Yes, and in the online format this is especially important, I think. That's because we don't really have a chance to sit down "in the office" to chat with a student over a cup of coffee, so to speak. So the kind of feedback we provide is usually written and usually sent electronically. So it has to be quite relevant to the needs of the student. Thanks for your comments on this. It's good to know I'm on the right track here. Course development is a little new to me in this environment. Thanks.
James,
Right - that's why it is important to tie the learning outcomes to the assessment. You are right on track.
