Providing Constructive Feedback Rubric

Students Assessing teaching and Learning Assessment support program Collect confidential data from students to give instructors a better idea of how their classes are going Opportunity to tune in instruction based on student perspective (learner centered) to enhance learning environments We are going to do an activity that helps you give constructive feedback Our job is to collect feedback.

What are some situations when giving constructive feedback is necessary? Someone asks for your opinion about how they are doing Peer review Ongoing performance discussions Course evaluations Providing specific performance pointers Group work feedback Concern about a peer’s work habits Peer conversation Use personal

Flip Teaching Methodology Instructor Centered Instructor gives information If students are not up to level instructor is, they have to catch up on their own Passive and individual activities Learner Centered Assessment: find out where students are Group work Active learning activities Peer reviews

What are the benefits of peer review? It is always good to have another student’s perspective We can learn by explaining things to other people It makes you critically think about your work Discussion helps you organize your argument

Activity: Peer review Review Chris Piper’s essay Include at least 3 comments. Mark comments in the left column (#1) on the back of the handout. *Do not write in the second column Ask instructor if students are familiar with the reading. Individual work, get examples and write on left side of the board. For writing class: ask them to use analyzing an argument/ Mention we are not going to talk about the errors, just the feedback

Your turn! Will 3 students please come up and write one of their comments on the board. Now pass the marker to a friend so that they can write an example as well.

the purpose of a rubric is… To describe expected product To provide criteria for levels of performance To outline how to reach goals of the task Introduce rubric

Rubric for giving constructive feedback This rubric is designed to help peers and faculty give valuable feedback to each other We hope that by the end of this presentation you will be able to give constructive feedback Introduce rubric

“Feedback needs to provide information specifically relating to the task or process of learning that fills a gap between what is understood and what is aimed to be understood.” (Hattie, et al 2007)

Feedback is valuable and useful when…

Who Someone provides it with the appropriate audience in mind. Who is going to receive this information: a peer, an instructor, the program director? *Use exit evaluations as example Telling the instructor the class is too early in the morning is not helpful because they do not have control over that.

When It is given as soon as possible after performance and it allows for response and interaction. Will the feedback still be relevant to the audience?

Why There is purpose awareness. What is my audience going to do with this information: make changes in the draft, adjust teaching strategies, add a class to the program? *Use mid-course evaluation vs peer review The purpose is to get student feedback to tune in instruction to support your learning in the class. But the purpose of feedback for peer review is to allow students to make adjustments to better complete the assignment.

What It is focused and provides specific information with clear evidence of appropriate content. What are the goals? What progress is being made towards that goal? What activities need to be undertaken to make better progress?

how It is perceived as well-intentioned, respectful, and knowledgeable. Is what I am saying specific and useful to the audience? Am I addressing the content in a focused, constructive, and respectful manner?

Personal Examples What experiences have you had with giving or receiving feedback?? Did it have a positive or negative effect?

Tip # 1 Include accurate and specific data that is clear about irrefutable evidence. Example “Adding expert evidence, like data from research articles, would make your argument much stronger.”

Focus on content rather than on the person. Tip # 2 Focus on content rather than on the person. Content vs Person “The conclusion is…” “Your conclusion is..” “I had questions about this section…” “You lost me in this section…” “The class could be a little more organized…” “You need to organize your class…” People will take it less personally, positive tone makes them more accepting of feedback.

Comments should focus on description rather than judgment. Tip # 3 Comments should focus on description rather than judgment. Comments should be: Non-judgmental Descriptive Specific *Be honest, but be respectful in how you say it and remember the purpose is to help the person improve Don’t use negative judgmental words like bad or poor. Be specific. Instead of “Bad example” say something like “do you think this example supports or contradicts your claim?” or “A different example may support your claim more.” *being nice, does not mean not being critical

There should a balance between positive and negative feedback. Tip # 4 There should a balance between positive and negative feedback. One way to do this is to sandwich negative data between positive data. This not only creates a positive tone, it will provide clarity for the recipient so that they know what they need to do next.

Tip # 5 Positive feedback is attributed to internal causes and is given in the second person. Start sentences with: “You…” “You used very supportive examples …”

Tip # 6 Negative information should be given in first person and then to the third. Start sentences with “I had a lot of questions when reading the introduction…” “I was unsure what you meant here because…” Less accusatory, disclaimer that it is your opinion

Tip # 7 Offer specific suggestions that model appropriate behavior. “This type of example may support your argument …” “Have you considered introducing this concept first?...”

Activity: peer review continued… Three people come up and modify these comments based on what we learned from the rubric. What was good about that example? What needed to be improved? In second column of the second paper, modify your feedback based on the rubric Think: In second column of the second paper, modify your feedback based on the rubric Pair: # of groups depends on how many feedback examples we have (4 to 5 most likely) Share: Write modified examples on board and discuss

Minute paper: Use Rubric to answer the following questions 1. What are three of the most important ideas you learned from this presentation? 2. What unanswered questions do you still have? 3. Do you have any suggestions for the rubric or the presentation?