Feedback is the means by which the teacher informs each student about his/her learning and the link between the current state of his/her learning and the expected objectives (Rodet, 2000). It is a moment of "stepping back" which should facilitate progress and prepare for future assessment.
It is a powerful tool that can influence, positively or negatively, students' motivation and self-esteem.
Ideally, feedback should be given within a reasonable timeframe, fairly soon after an assessment or exercise, individually or collectively depending on the size of the group and the time available.
- Group size: Small Group, Medium Group, Large Group
- Equipment needed: No special equipment
- Type of class: During Lecture, In Classroom
- Grouping: Individual, Small Groups, Full Group
- Objective: Acquire content and/or method,
- Lenght: Variable
- Keywords: Tool, Feedback, Motivation, Self-Assessment, Peer Tutoring
Good feedback is built up by clearly expressing
- the expected requirements in relation to the course objectives
- the evaluation criteria, making sure that everyone understands them
- mistakes that are part of the normal learning process
- concrete comments indicating which skills can be further developed,
Finally, it is not only the teacher who can provide feedback to the student.
Here are some examples of Feedback type:
Anticipatory feedback: The teacher suggests commenting on previous years' papers using the criteria grid that will be used this year.
General feedback: The teacher records a video with general comments on the assessment: what worked/what a majority of students had problems with and why/what needs to be worked on to progress.
Self-assessment: Suggest to the student that he/she is the first assessor! They should be introduced to this type of practice by getting them used to marking themselves or giving themselves a written assessment of their work, and why not on their exam paper, where a space could be reserved for this self-evaluation. In this way, the teacher and the student can measure the difference between their assessments.
Peer feedback: Encourage students to work in small groups of different levels to discuss their results with each other and to give feedback themselves.
Feedback in response: Ask them to write specific questions following the assessment and after the feedback, which you can answer either live or via an LMS such as Moodle or Claroline.