Have you considered that certain feedback methods are more effective depending on the learning goal?

Getting to communicate effectively with students about their work can help them face the transition challenges. One way to improve feedback involves exploring different approaches to delivering it. Feedback can take many forms – from the explicit oral or written language, to the implicitly offered through gestures and tone of voice.

Use Collective Feedback

With collective feedback you give the same feedback to a group of students at the same time. This can be done in different formats:

• Organising feedback sessions for the entire student group;
• Giving and discussing good and bad examples of assignments or exams;
• Giving model answers and/or exemplars to questions that have appeared on exams in the previous years (see Further Information);
• Providing checklists with general focus points and frequently made mistakes.

One useful strategy with large groups is to use an electronic voting system (Wooclap or Kahoot! for example) to quickly get a lot of anonymous answers to a question. If you then display the breadth of answers, allow students to discuss these answers, and then comment on the correct answer (if there is one).

Implement Written Group Feedback

It can take the form of a report on how the class did as a whole on a specific assignment. Ideally, such an overall report can be debriefed in a whole-group session with the students. Students can learn from the feedback on mistakes or errors in other students’ work; they can find out which difficulties were commonly encountered and it can save you a lot of time instead of having to write the same feedback comments to commonly-occurring mistakes.

Group feedback can take different formats. Online delivery can take the form of:

• An email sent to the entire group of students,
• A report document uploaded to the LMS of your institution,
• An audio or video message available on the LMS space.

Create online activities (multiple-choice or similar types of question) that enable students to test out their understanding and get instant constructive feedback.

Establish Feedback Written Codes

Rather than writing detailed comments directly on students’ work, use a simple code (like a letter, number, or symbol). Create a corresponding ‘code glossary’ on overheads, paper, or slides. This glossary can be used during group feedback sessions and shared with students as a translation tool, allowing them to revisit their work and understand your feedback more effectively. See Quick win 1

Show Examples Through Screencasts

Screencasting is a technology that allows one to demonstrate how things are done by recording the actions on a computer screen (for example, how to write or use a software, or stages in a calculation, etc). It can also provide a model answer or an exemplar of a particular problem (see details on the strategies below).

Use Rubrics

Rubrics are cover sheets for assignments that can provide the marking criteria for the assignment. Their purpose is to guide both the student and the teacher by providing an easy reference to the criteria and weighting for the various components of the assignment.

Rubrics can focus comments to students in a standard format. They can take various forms and provide standard feedback with the possibility of individual comments. See Quick Win 2

Give Opportunities for Self and Peer Evaluation

Instead of directly providing feedback, you can facilitate self-evaluation by engaging students in various activities:

• Identifying Strengths and Weaknesses: Encourage students to assess their work against specific criteria before receiving feedback.
• Creating a Learning Portfolio: Have students reflect on their accomplishments and curate a selection of their work in a portfolio. It will promote self-assessment and will allow them to showcase their progress.
• Setting Milestones: Establish checkpoints for tasks, enabling students to reflect on completed work and plan for future steps, fostering a proactive approach to learning.
• Organising Peer Feedback: Facilitate peer-to-peer feedback sessions, which can enhance students’ ability to evaluate their own work by assessing others’ work and receiving constructive criticism.

Recycle Written Comments

There are some specialised software and standard word-processing packages that allow “recycling” comments that you can frequently make on common issues in students work.