The Power of Feedback II
Researches on the benefits of frequent testing and feedback explain that in the history of the study of teaching and learning, the role of feedback has been equally important as the process of teaching. It is so important that it provides students with information on what exactly they did well, what may still need improvement, and what are remedial measures to be taken to reach the learning goals. Powerful feedback helps them to identify their strengths and weaknesses and take deliberate and practical steps for filling the gaps if any.
The feedback we share needs to be specific to the situation. It should answer the questions, “What happened?” “What was wrong and what was right?” Never say, “Good Job!” or “Great Work!” Such comments are not helpful for a student to know what he did well or what he needs to work on. Your feedback will be powerful if it is tailored for the unique situation of the individual student taking into consideration his prior knowledge and skill level.
Let us be real in giving genuine praise in order for the students to take it seriously because they can easily recognize if you are honest or not. Identify something positive about the learning and something that needs improvement. Feedback is actually reconstructing with the students what happened and then working with them to make a reasonable diagnosis of why it happened and then coming up with a plan as a remedy.
Feedback should always be educative and instructional in nature. For example, for feedback on a literary review, you can say, “You did a really nice job comparing and contrasting points of view in this text.” “Can you guess why did the author choose this point of view here?” Take care to limit your comments only about what the student had done well or what the student needs to work on for further improvement.
Ideal feedback should inspire the student to do the thinking. Avoid comments and questions such as, “Something is missing here” or “What needs to be added there?” “Why all this stuff?” as they do not contribute much to the thinking process of the students. Instead, ask questions to stimulate their thinking: “Is there anything you could change to make that a proper sentence?” “What do you think would make the sentence more descriptive?”
Studies of effective teaching and learning have shown that students want to know where they stand in regard to their work. Answering the following questions on a regular basis will make your feedback powerful and effective. These are also helpful when providing feedback to parents either: What can the student do? What can’t the student do? How can the student do better? And what can the teacher do to help the student do better?
If done carelessly, feedback does more harm than good. Phrases like: “That’s wrong”, “No”, and “That’s a mistake” do not help students learn from their mistakes and can damage their self-confidence. It can also harm the teacher-student relationship, which is very important in the educational process.