Providing Written Feedback - Best Practices
Unfortunately, despite all the time and effort we put into grading, students often don't get as much out of our comments as we think they should. Even when they carefully read every word, students frequently struggle to understand what we want them to do differently. Studies of college students' writing indicate that they find our feedback confusing, intimidating, or overwhelming.
Below are three themes that emerge repeatedly in the literature on effective feedback. Scholars in this area also highly recommend creating assignments that include at least one revision, and the themes reflect this. Providing feedback only after a paper is already completed is akin to a "coroner diagnosing the cause of death" (Leki, 1990, p. 57); students interpret the comments as a justification for the grade rather than guidance for improvement. Such feedback is unlikely to help them improve their writing on subsequent papers on entirely different topics. Even if you can't have students turn in drafts and revisions of their entire papers, try having them revise a single paragraph or page based on feedback from you; students benefit from even an abbreviated version of the revision process.
Help Your Students Prioritize
To help students prioritize their revisions, we need to prioritize our feedback. When grading written work, more is usually less; students can get overwhelmed by the number of things they're told to fix, and may not be able to pick out the most essential items. Focus on higher-order issues, such as the quality of the argument, the evidence used, and the overall organization and structure of the paper. We all think we're doing that, but content analyses of instructors' feedback found that much of it emphasized mechanics--spelling and grammar, punctuation, and other sentence-level errors. Students then focus on fixing those issues, often at the expense of rethinking and revising the argument. And students are reluctant to delete passages once they've gone through and made all the spelling and grammar corrections requested by the instructor; as a result, they may keep material that a substantial revision of the paper might otherwise lead them to scrap.
Be realistic about how much students can improve an essay from one draft to the next. Your summary comments should identify a few (3-4) main issues for them to tackle, and prioritize those issues ("the most important part of your revision should be..."). Save the grammar and spelling concerns for later in the writing process.
Provide Clear Feedback and Help Your Students Interpret It
"Awkward." "Inc. sen." "Vague." "Expand this!" These types of comments might make perfect sense to us, but they may leave our students confounded, unsure what we mean or what's expected of them. We tell students they must use full sentences that express complete thoughts, but we often fail to do so. When students don't make the revisions we wanted, we tend to think they intentionally ignored us. But it may very well be that they had no idea how to begin addressing the feedback they received.
Here are some tips for helping students understand what you're asking them to do:
1. Explain any shorthand you use. When you pass out the papers, use some class time to explain any phrases ("awkward," "sen frag") and editing marks or vocabulary that students may not know. If you underline as you read, explain whether the underlining is important.
2. Be clear. Explain why they need to expand their argument in a particular place, or what makes a sentence awkward. Don't assume they can figure it out; be explicit. Content analysis show that faculty tend to provide very specific feedback about spelling and grammar, but very general feedback about content, leaving students most confused about how to make the most important revisions. If possible, suggest strategies for how to make the changes you'd like to see.
3. If you provide a sample student paper, be sure to go over it with students. They can't necessarily look at it and figure out why it's good or what elements work, and may focus on details that aren't the key items you want them to consider. Instead of an entire paper, try giving students examples of very specific elements of good writing: a single paragraph that is well-written, a good way to introduce a quote or transition between ideas, or a particularly clear presentation of evidence, for instance.
4. Have students write a summary of the feedback. This can be in or outside of class, and students can summarize the comments on their own paper or swap with another student. Having students summarize the feedback in their own words gets them to really think about your recommendations, and it gives you a chance to see if they understand what you're asking them to do (and clarify if they don't). Beyond summarizing your feedback, you might ask students to also submit a revision plan, which will push them to think about how they can address the guidance you've provided.
5. If students turn in a revised draft, require a "revise and resubmit" memo along with it, explaining what changes they made and any recommendations or feedback they chose not to incorporate.
Provide Personalized, Specific Feedback
Sometimes the comments we provide are so general that they could apply to almost any paper. While some issues are so common that notes about them are likely to show up on multiple papers, overall your feedback should show that you've focused on each student's specific essay, and that you're engaged in a conversation with them about their ideas. This gives a student better guidance for improving the content of their particular paper. Just as importantly, it makes it clear you've carefully read their paper.
As you're evaluating a paper, focus on the student's ideas and what they were trying to do, and how your feedback can help them achieve those ends. Try not to get stuck thinking about the ideal paper, or the paper you would have written about the topic.
Finally, feedback should provide both useful, constructive criticism and encouragement. Acknowledge any positive elements about the paper--but don't give false, superficial praise. Find something you can realistically praise.
Below are three themes that emerge repeatedly in the literature on effective feedback. Scholars in this area also highly recommend creating assignments that include at least one revision, and the themes reflect this. Providing feedback only after a paper is already completed is akin to a "coroner diagnosing the cause of death" (Leki, 1990, p. 57); students interpret the comments as a justification for the grade rather than guidance for improvement. Such feedback is unlikely to help them improve their writing on subsequent papers on entirely different topics. Even if you can't have students turn in drafts and revisions of their entire papers, try having them revise a single paragraph or page based on feedback from you; students benefit from even an abbreviated version of the revision process.
Help Your Students Prioritize
To help students prioritize their revisions, we need to prioritize our feedback. When grading written work, more is usually less; students can get overwhelmed by the number of things they're told to fix, and may not be able to pick out the most essential items. Focus on higher-order issues, such as the quality of the argument, the evidence used, and the overall organization and structure of the paper. We all think we're doing that, but content analyses of instructors' feedback found that much of it emphasized mechanics--spelling and grammar, punctuation, and other sentence-level errors. Students then focus on fixing those issues, often at the expense of rethinking and revising the argument. And students are reluctant to delete passages once they've gone through and made all the spelling and grammar corrections requested by the instructor; as a result, they may keep material that a substantial revision of the paper might otherwise lead them to scrap.
Be realistic about how much students can improve an essay from one draft to the next. Your summary comments should identify a few (3-4) main issues for them to tackle, and prioritize those issues ("the most important part of your revision should be..."). Save the grammar and spelling concerns for later in the writing process.
Provide Clear Feedback and Help Your Students Interpret It
"Awkward." "Inc. sen." "Vague." "Expand this!" These types of comments might make perfect sense to us, but they may leave our students confounded, unsure what we mean or what's expected of them. We tell students they must use full sentences that express complete thoughts, but we often fail to do so. When students don't make the revisions we wanted, we tend to think they intentionally ignored us. But it may very well be that they had no idea how to begin addressing the feedback they received.
Here are some tips for helping students understand what you're asking them to do:
1. Explain any shorthand you use. When you pass out the papers, use some class time to explain any phrases ("awkward," "sen frag") and editing marks or vocabulary that students may not know. If you underline as you read, explain whether the underlining is important.
2. Be clear. Explain why they need to expand their argument in a particular place, or what makes a sentence awkward. Don't assume they can figure it out; be explicit. Content analysis show that faculty tend to provide very specific feedback about spelling and grammar, but very general feedback about content, leaving students most confused about how to make the most important revisions. If possible, suggest strategies for how to make the changes you'd like to see.
3. If you provide a sample student paper, be sure to go over it with students. They can't necessarily look at it and figure out why it's good or what elements work, and may focus on details that aren't the key items you want them to consider. Instead of an entire paper, try giving students examples of very specific elements of good writing: a single paragraph that is well-written, a good way to introduce a quote or transition between ideas, or a particularly clear presentation of evidence, for instance.
4. Have students write a summary of the feedback. This can be in or outside of class, and students can summarize the comments on their own paper or swap with another student. Having students summarize the feedback in their own words gets them to really think about your recommendations, and it gives you a chance to see if they understand what you're asking them to do (and clarify if they don't). Beyond summarizing your feedback, you might ask students to also submit a revision plan, which will push them to think about how they can address the guidance you've provided.
5. If students turn in a revised draft, require a "revise and resubmit" memo along with it, explaining what changes they made and any recommendations or feedback they chose not to incorporate.
Provide Personalized, Specific Feedback
Sometimes the comments we provide are so general that they could apply to almost any paper. While some issues are so common that notes about them are likely to show up on multiple papers, overall your feedback should show that you've focused on each student's specific essay, and that you're engaged in a conversation with them about their ideas. This gives a student better guidance for improving the content of their particular paper. Just as importantly, it makes it clear you've carefully read their paper.
As you're evaluating a paper, focus on the student's ideas and what they were trying to do, and how your feedback can help them achieve those ends. Try not to get stuck thinking about the ideal paper, or the paper you would have written about the topic.
Finally, feedback should provide both useful, constructive criticism and encouragement. Acknowledge any positive elements about the paper--but don't give false, superficial praise. Find something you can realistically praise.
Recommended Reading
Bean, J. (2011). Engaging ideas: The professor's guide to integrating writing, critical thinking, and active learning in the classroom (2nd ed.). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. [Chapters 14-16]
Ferris, D. (2007). Preparing teachers to respond to student writing. Journal of Second Language Writing, 16(3), 165-193.
Sommers, N. (1982). Responding to student writing. College Composition and Communication, 33(2), 148-156.
Underwood, J. S. & Tregidgo, A. P. (2010). Improving student writing through effective feedback: Best practices and recommendations. Journal of Teaching Writing, 22(2), 73-97.
Yeager, D.S., Purdie-Vaughns, V., Garcia, J., Apfel, N., Pebley, P., Master, A., Hessert, W., Williams, M. & Cohen, G.L. (2014). Breaking the cycle of mistrust: Wise interventions to provide critical feedback across the racial divide. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 143(2), 804-824.
Bean, J. (2011). Engaging ideas: The professor's guide to integrating writing, critical thinking, and active learning in the classroom (2nd ed.). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. [Chapters 14-16]
Ferris, D. (2007). Preparing teachers to respond to student writing. Journal of Second Language Writing, 16(3), 165-193.
Sommers, N. (1982). Responding to student writing. College Composition and Communication, 33(2), 148-156.
Underwood, J. S. & Tregidgo, A. P. (2010). Improving student writing through effective feedback: Best practices and recommendations. Journal of Teaching Writing, 22(2), 73-97.
Yeager, D.S., Purdie-Vaughns, V., Garcia, J., Apfel, N., Pebley, P., Master, A., Hessert, W., Williams, M. & Cohen, G.L. (2014). Breaking the cycle of mistrust: Wise interventions to provide critical feedback across the racial divide. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 143(2), 804-824.