Student Perspectives

   

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Marilla Svinicki and Wilbert McKeachie, authors of McKeachie’s Teaching Tips: Strategies, Research, and Theory for College and University Teachers, outline several factors that help ensure your comments on students’ assignments are helpful, meaningful, and actionable.

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Written feedback should be:

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• Understandable: Expressed in a language that students will understand.

• Selective: Commenting on two or three things that the student can do something about.

• Specific: Pointing to examples in the student’s submission where the feedback applies.

• Timely: Provided in time to inform the next piece of work.

• Contextualized: Framed with reference to the learning outcomes and/or assessment criteria.

• Nonjudgmental: Descriptive rather than evaluative, focused on learning goals not just performance goals.

• Balanced: Pointing out the positive as well as areas in need of improvement.

• Forward-Looking: Suggesting how students might improve subsequent assignments.

• Transferable: Focused on processes, skills, and self-regulatory abilities. (McKeachie and Svinicki, p 111)

 

Reference: 

McKeachie, Wilbert J. and Svinicki, Marilla. 2014. McKeachie’s Teaching Tips, Fourteenth Edition. Belmont: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning.