Feedback

FEEDBACK CAN TRANSFORM A STUDENT’S LEARNING

Basically, feedback is information about how we are doing in our efforts to reach a goal. Effective feedback requires that a person has a goal, takes action to achieve the goal, and receives goal-related information about his or her actions.

Effective feedback is concrete, specific, and useful; it provides actionable information. Thus, "Good job!" and "You did that wrong" are not feedback at all; and teachers often tend to forget the real purpose of giving feedback. Moreover, we can easily imagine the learners asking themselves in response to these comments, what specifically should I do better next time, based on this information? No idea. They don't know what was "good" or "wrong" about what they did. Particularly, I have experienced this situation several times, and I have felt confused because I did not know what to do better next time.

The sooner teachers provide feedback, the better because in that way, students can immediately notice what they have done, and how they have done it.

I believe that providing feedback means giving students an explanation of what they are doing correctly and incorrectly; however, the focus of the feedback should be based essentially on what the students are doing right. Giving feedback means pointing out students’ strengths and weaknesses. When providing feedback, teachers sometimes tend to just point out students’ weaknesses; however, it is essential to praise and reward them every time they do anything great. 

Another important aspect to take into account when providing feedback is finding the correct moment to give it. When feedback is given immediately after showing proof of learning, the student responds positively and remembers the experience about what is being learned in a confident manner.  If we wait too long to give feedback, the moment is lost and the student might not connect the feedback with the action.

Also, it is vital for teachers to take into consideration each student individually when giving feedback.  Our classrooms are full of diverse learners, and each student has his or her own learning style. Some students need to be pushed to achieve a higher level of proficiency and others need to work slowly to complete a task more effectively.

Furthermore, students are often dissatisfied with the feedback they receive, and hence many of them become depressed after a presentation or any other activity. Others work very hard to do it better next time, and improve what they have just done.

“Feedback gives students the chance to compare their work with that done by the rest of class, which can build more accurate self-assessment skills”