Provide Effective Feedback on Students’ Learning Process

A Venn diagram about the purpose of giving feedback. 1 is to meet learning objectives. 2 is to engage with the course. 3 is to build connections with the class, and 4 is to improve learning performance

In conjunction with deciding which formative and summative assessments will be used in a course, faculty must decide how and how often to provide feedback to students. Providing students with feedback—written, verbal, video, etc. comments and guidance about their work and progress in the course—is a critical aspect of the learning process (Nicol et al., 2014).

 

Feedback not only helps students improve their performance in the course, meet learning objectives, feel engaged in the course, and build connections with the instructor and their peers (Fiock & Garcia, 2019). In other words, feedback builds teaching and social presence (Garrison et al.,2000) in an online class.

 

There are a number of ways of providing feedback, and regardless of whether it's formative or summative, it should ultimately be a learning experience for students. Feedback is as an opportunity to engage students in dialogue about their learning progress (Nicol & MacFarlane-Dick, 2007; Nash &Winstone, 2018). The dialogue about students’ progress does not have to exist solely between the teacher and student; rather, instructors can and should give students opportunities to evaluate their own work and progress and their peers through peer review processes (Nicol et al., 2014).

Best practices in providing feedback on students’ work

The following best practice principles can guide instructors in deciding how and when to provide feedback to their students (Fiock & Garcia, 2019; Nicol et al., 2014).

Click each title to learn more about them.

Apply to your course: Resources & Tools 

There are several approaches and technologies that can be used to give students feedback about their progress. It is recommended that, in order to maximize feedback, instructors create opportunities for students to give and receive feedback in all of the following scenarios:

  • Instructor—Individual Student
  • Peer-to-peer
  • Student—self
  • Instructor—small group

Feedback Methods

Description

UMass-supported Tools

Rubrics
  • Predefined criteria for success and points allotted for different categories of the assignment.
  • Guide for Designing Grading Rubrics (Brown)
  • Use Canvas rubrics to build and grade an assignment within the LMS
  • Upload your own rubric as an attachment in the LMS

Peer Review

Written Annotations
  • Written comments are made directly on students’ work: use the LMS features to directly comment, add/strikethrough/highlight text, etc.
  • See Dawson et al.’s (2019) article on Effective Feedback
Verbal audio feedback
  • Recorded audio feedback on an assignment (this can often ultimately be both time-saving and clearer than written feedback for students)
Video Feedback & Screencasting
  • Recorded video of the person providing feedback and/or a video of what’s on the screen (this could be helpful for specificity on an assignment, as one can show where improvements are needed and what was done well)
  • Use any screen recording platform on your computer or Zoom or Echo360
Video Conferencing
  • Students are given feedback through video conferencing format (scheduled or during office hours)
  • Zoom
Reflection
  • Students evaluate their own work and progress using guided questions, the assignment rubric, etc.
  • Canvas Discussions/Pages

References

Brown University’s Sheridan Center for Teaching and Learning. Designing Grading Rubrics.

Dawson, P., Henderson, M., Mahoney, P., Phillips, M., Ryan, T., Boud, D., & Molloy, E. (2019). What makes for effective feedback: Staff and student perspectives. Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education, 44(1), 25-36.

Fiock, H. & Garcia, H. (2019, November 11). How to Give Your Students Better Feedback With Technology. The Chronicle of Higher Education.

Garrison, D. R., Anderson, T, & Archer, W. (2000). Critical inquiry in a text-based environment: Computer conferencing in higher education. The Internet and Higher Education, 2, 87–105.

Nash & Winstone. (2018, March 14). When feedback is forgettable. The Learning Scientists.

Nicol, D., Thomson, A., & Breslin, C. (2014). Rethinking feedback practices in higher education: a peer review perspective. Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education, 39(1), 102-122.

Nicol, D. J., & Macfarlane‐Dick, D. (2007). Formative assessment and self‐regulated learning: A model and seven principles of good feedback practice. Studies in higher education, 31(2), 199-218.

Ogg Straub, E. (2024, January 15). Successful peer review.

The University of Survey. 2020. Feedback in Online Learning.

How to cite this page:

UMass Amherst IDEAS Team. (2024, October). Provide effective feedback on students' learning process. https://www.umass.edu/ideas/provide-effective-feedback-students-learning-process