Using feedback

Producer: Thomas Nixon

Barriers

Just as there are pitfalls to avoid when giving feedback, there are also certain barriers to learning from feedback. These are presented from the recipient’s perspective but overlap to some extent with the pitfalls presented from the giver’s perspective.

According to Dai Hounsell (personal communication), the main barriers that prevent someone from learning from feedback relate to:

• Quantity - too little or too much feedback is given
• Frequency - feedback is given too infrequently
• Timing - feedback arrives too late to be useful, or so late that both the giver and the recipient have forgotten parts of the situation
• Critical tone - feedback focuses on what is wrong or not good enough and may also be delivered in judgemental language (for example: this was rubbish, you need to make more effort, think before you write, the gaps in the logic are big enough to drive a bus through)
• Inconsistency - different assessors have different views on what is good/acceptable, which becomes confusing for the recipient
• Helpfulness - few or no suggestions for improvement are provided, meaning there is no support for reflecting on what can be developed and how
• Engagement/perceived value - feedback is given after the grade has been awarded and therefore has little value in that situation
• Transparency/accessibility - feedback is too brief and unclear. It is difficult to understand what is meant by the feedback.
• Feedback - a dialogue

Students who do not understand the feedback they have received, or who do not know how to use it, must be given the opportunity to contact the teacher/supervisor and engage in a dialogue about how the feedback should be interpreted and how it can be used. This is probably most relevant in the case of written feedback, which tends to be one-way communication, but questions about how to understand oral feedback may also arise afterwards.

Students must be offered the opportunity for dialogue and clarification in order to gain a clear understanding of how the feedback should be interpreted and how it can be used to support development.

Self-assessment

According to Hedin, the ultimate purpose of feedback is to initiate reflection in the learner. Reflection on: what can I do, what do I need to develop/improve, and how can I do that? The ability to carry out self-assessment can be practised and learned through good feedback (Nicol) and is a prerequisite for students to take control of their learning and become self-directed learners.

Being able to make realistic assessments of one’s own abilities is an essential skill in working life and therefore needs to be practised and developed during studies.

Tools for self-assessment

Most courses today have defined aspects, in other words what is examined and what is looked for in an assessment situation.

Many have also described criteria for the different aspects. The criteria describe the level of quality required in a given situation. These aspects and criteria are used by teachers/supervisors in both formative and summative assessment. Students should also have access to them from the start of the course as support for peer assessment and, of course, self-assessment.

A logbook in which the student writes down what they have learned from the feedback can also be a useful tool. Looking back through the logbook can show development over time and make learning visible.

The templates below can also serve as support for processing and using feedback. The template can be adapted and modified according to individual needs.

Practice example

Review this example and consider how to handle a feedback situation where the parties have (completely) different views of the student’s performance. When might it be appropriate to involve a third party in the situation?

(Video in Swedish)