Making the most ofFeedback

Chris DoyeInstitute for Academic DevelopmentUniversity of Edinburgh2012

Your questions

Write one question on the card that you want this workshop to answer and then put your card in the box.

Individual task

Answer the questions on the hand-outNobody else will read what you havewritten although you may share youranswers if you wish

What might it mean?

Feedback

Example• Comments on marked essay

Feed-forward

Example• Response by tutor to question

in tutorial

Group questions

• What is feedback?• What is it for?• Can you give some examples?• When is it most helpful?

Working definition

How happy are you with this definition?Feedback (or forward) is input that helps us to assess where we are right now and to see how to move forward.Is there anything you would add, delete or change?We can come back and do this at any time.

Be active about feedback

• Think about what kind of feedback you need• Think about all the ways you might get it, e.g.

Prepare for a lecture – what do YOU need from it?Prepare for a tutorial • What do you want to understand better?• What ideas do you want to explore?• If they don’t come up, can you ask someone?

Use peer support, friends, study groupsUse self-feedback techniques

Do you understand it?

What can you do if you don’t understand the feedback you get?

Carrying feedback forward

• Keep a brief record of your feedback, target actions as relevant, look at the record before a new assignment /course:What will and won’t be useful for the new assignment/course?

• Look for what you did wellWhy was it good? What other contexts will/won’t this be helpful in?

• Where you had problems or weaknesses Is it a major or a minor concern?Are there suggestions for how to improve? (This may be given to the

whole class if it’s a common problem)• Do you understand what you can do?

Making the most of feedback

• How would you define or explain feedback?• What is helpful to continue about the way you gain and use

feedback?• In what new ways might it be useful to try to get feedback?• In what new ways might it be helpful to try to use feedback?

For more advice about feedback, go to the ‘Enhancing feedback’ pages of the university website:http://www.enhancingfeedback.ed.ac.uk/students.html