Providing Feedback
Consider the two scenarios below and describe how you will communicate to each of these learners. Discuss the reasoning behind your feedback decisions.
Scenario 1: Mike turns in a self-evaluation of his performance on an assignment that indicates that he thought he did an excellent job and met all of the criteria in the grading rubric. When you grade Mike's assignment, you see that he has not done as well as he thought he did.
Describe how you will communicate with Mike regarding his performance in relationship to how he thought he did.
Without providing the details of your feedback, discuss the ways you could provide actionable feedback to him to help him improve his performance.
Scenario 2: Kathy turns in a self-evaluation of her performance on the assignment that indicates that she knows she didn't do a good job on the assignment. When you grade it you find that she accurately evaluated her performance.
How will your communications differ from how you communicated with Mike?
What will be your area of focus to provide actionable feedback to help her improve performance?
With Mike, I would make sure that he had analyzed the rubric and let him know that these are the criteria in which he is being graded. If he says that he has, I would gently go through the criteria that he didn't meet and ask him if he thought he did meet the criteria. Perhaps he thought he did - this is an opportunity for the instructor to help clarify the expectations.
My communication with Kathy differs from that of Mike because she knew she didn't do well. I would acknowledge her self-assessment as being accurate and ask her what she thinks the reason is for not doing well and ask if there is anything I, as the instructor, could help with.
With Mike I would compliment his effort and then carefully point out why he didn't get the full mark for each part of the rubric. I may even consider giving him the opportunity to resubmit his assignment but with a penalty.
With Kathy I would explain what she needs to do in order to better meet the standards. She would probably also be given the opportunity to resubmit her assignment with a penalty.
I agree! clear guidelines are so important as well as being clear on the expectations. I have seen some assignments that are a little vague and it is hard for students to know what is expected. The more we break things down and the more we explain in detail the better the student success will be. We have to have rubrics that are detailed so that we do have objective data to back up what we expect
I agree with allowing them to redo the work. The actual goal of learning is to lean the material and allowing them to redo is a technique to help them learn how to study and to do the work correctly
well in the first situation I would break it down into parts and make sure to add positive comments as well. I would go step by step and follow the guidelines on the rubrics so that I could model to him what it is I need for each part.
In the second situation I would ask her for her feedback as to what it is she thinks she needs to improve on. After that response I would work with her to show her what will/will not assist her. But if she already stated she didn't do well she may be a dependent student who is waiting for guidance. Asking her what she thinks she can improve on will help her be more independent
Brian,
The sandwich method can be very helpful in providing the correct type of feedback to our students regardless of background. No student wants to feel like they are being torn down all the time when they submit work, they need positive reinforcement that something they are doing is correct along with the necessary feedback to help them correct their issues.
Herbert Brown III
I like this response. It mirrors how I would approach it. I try to use a sandwich method - positive - constructive feedback on errors - positive. I am dealing with primarily ESL students from different cultures (some of whom are hesitant to even reach out to an instructor) so that makes this even more delicate.
I would provide guidelines to Mike. These guidelines should serve as a refresher for course discussions etc. I would also recognize his initial effort and provide additional examples of what I'm looking for in his responses.
In Kathy's evaluation, I would provide her with the same guidelines as Mike and try to reassure this student that she is meeting the expectations of the course.
Paula,
I like how you tied everything to measurable and quantifiable elements. It is hard to argue with a rubric if it is well designed and provided before the assignment so that students know how they will be assessed. Well designed and evaluated assignments are hard to argue with; however, assignments with a lot of ambiguity can cause you a lot of headaches.
Herbert Brown III
I am not sure my approach would be different here. In both cases, I would format my intial feedback comments in a positive way by finding something (anything) that they did well, and highlighting it. I would then provide them a copy of the rubric with explanations for each area that was downgraded, with suggestions for future improvement. The final comments would again be positive, pointing out what they did RIGHT, and expressing my belief that they are fully capable of correcting the mistakes and doing great work. I would also invite them to contact me with any questions they have regarding this feedback or future assignments.
I would encourge Mike to look back on his assignment and give suggestions on how to improve the assignment. I would exlplain in detail where he may of thought did a good job but did not and explain where the mistake was made. Explain that maybe he did not read the assignment clearly.
I would ask Kathy why she felt she did bad and why she did not do better. I would look through assignment and point out the postive things about the assignment and encourge her to look back on the guideline and see where she could improve.
Hello Herbert,
Both of these scenarios revolve around establishing a good rapport with the student and communicating with him or her.
In the first scenario, It appears that Mike has either mostly ignored the published grading rubric or has misunderstood it. In such a scenario, It is critical to review the grading rubric with the student to ensure that there is a shared expectation between the student and instructor. After determining whether Mike knew of the existence of the grading rubric and that he reviewed it, the instructor should review each element of the rubric with Mike. It may take several examples or several explanations until Mike understands each element. Additionally, Mike's personality may not lend itself to such a detailed breakdown of an assignment--he may prefer to operate at a "higher" level. The instructor may need to help Mike breakdown each major area into it subcomponents in order to appropriately address each of those subcomponents.
In the second scenario, it appears that Kathy is understood what is required in the grading rubric. Her issue appears to be with understanding the content that is being assessed in that assignment. In this scenario, the instructor must take a different approach to advising student. One approach may be to review recent lectures with the student or provide additional materials that the student can review to "see" the material from a different perspective. Another approach may be to emphasize the progress that the student has made to date and to build upon what the student has already achieved in order to boost her confidence.
With those scenarios, encouraging Justin to follow up with the instructor could help avoid the student detaching from the class or otherwise being discouraged in future assignments.
cheers, mj
Christopher,
I do this in a writing course and the extra time is not too much of a burden and more importantly it is developmental for the students and it strengthens their skills. I have found it interesting though that many of the students that do a resubmit are the ones that already scored an A or B on the assignment, not the ones that just did minimal effort.
Herbert Brown III
Allowing students to resubmit is an interesting technique, Jeanette. I had not done this until recently. I am finding that it does give students an opportunity to increase their learning. I also worried that this would create an additional time burden, but I think extra time burden is worth the student's increased knowledge.
Chris
When reviewing Mike's performance, as with any feedback, I use the sandwich technique. I would start with all of the strong work he presented and assure him that he was correct in his evaluation of those components. Next I would transition into the areas that were incorrect or needed some additional work. When students think they are on track it helps to make the connection back to the rubric and to "show" them where they went wrong. I use a tablet to mark up papers. This sometimes helps students "see" errors. I have had students in the past who have straight A's and expect straight A's in my class. I see Mike as a student who has high expectations and maybe had some easy grading in the past. So, the best way to humble Mike but not deflate him is to show him the connections to the lesson instructions, the rubric, and his work. To simply post comments in a comment box is not enough for students like Mike. With proofreading marks and specific line-by-line commentary of his work, Mike will be able to see areas where he can improve. This would be something attached to the feedback. At the end of my comment box remarks, I would point him to the attachment and return back to commenting on his positive performance ( attendance, participation, effort,etc) and encourage him to contact me if he would like to discuss his work over the phone. I often let students submit work for a 2 minute review prior to grading. I will scan their work and let them know of anything that stands out as a grade changing mistake. I offer this to all my classes and usually only the A students will take me up on this. They have a chance to review and revise.
For Kathy, it seems she realizes that her work is suffering and she realizes that perhaps her other commitments are keeping her from studies or that she doesn't really understand the course material. For Kathy, she needs more encouragement than Mike. While he needs a bit of deflating - she could be on the path to giving up. I would probably call Kathy to check in on her before I post her grade to see what obstacles are in her path and incorporate our plan from the phone conversation into her remarks. For example, if she doesn't understand the content I could discuss this with her or send her to coaching. If she is struggling with time management we can discuss ways to prioritize the course work. I would be mindful to post more encouraging words in her post and to also provide resources in her remarks.
Mike,
You did good with your assignment. However, you missed points because you did not follow the instructions given. Please read the assignment deliverable over before responding the discussion. I know you will do better in your next assignment.
Next time, please let me know if there is any way I can assist you with the question. You have been a good contributor to our class during the live chat session. Take care.
1. Send Mike the criteria for the assignment grading and explain what points you were looking for in the assignment.
2. If she understands why she did not do well find out what made her so sure. In the discussion with her ask what she was not clear of.
Mike believes he understood, but maybe the information was miscommuicated where Kathy may have understood but lacked knowledge of the subject.
In both cases I could use an e-mail system, one-on-one chat session or Skpe. Skpe may be my best choice as it would allow me to assess non-verbal cues, such as frustration, confusion, or disinterest, in order to determine the reason for the student’s performance and perception. By being able to see each other and interpret our non-verbal cues chances of miscommunication is less. I would redirect both students to the course objectives and criteria in the grading rubric to check for understanding. After a discussion and having students share their rationales, I would be better able to assess the situation and direct each student according to their needs. With any of the methods I would be mindful to be encouraging to help foster a desire for learning and developing self-confidence.
With Mike and his disconnect between performance and self-evaluation, I would be provide constructive criticism and offer references to support my suggestions. I like to use the sandwich technique: point out something good; point out opportunity to improve; point out something good.
With Kathy I would look into offering an alternative assignment to check for understanding. The assignment may not have been compatible with her learning style.
Cristina,
I like how you suggested keeping everything positive and encouraging for the students. I also like how you placed the assessment back on the student and had them reflect on their performance and allowed them to discuss how they thought they did. I have used that strategy before and usually the students are harder on themselves than I would have been.
Herbert Brown III
