1. Teaching and supervising students in practice
Please use the dd month yyyy format for the date for example 11 January The main title can be one or two lines long.
Giving feedback
Dr Isabel Anton-Solanas 22nd March 2013

2. Session aims To consider the best ways to give feedback
To discuss how feedback can contribute to learner development

3. Why should I learn about feedback?
Issues of inconsistency and a lack of ability in giving accurate feedback on professional values and behaviours have been identified(Fitzgerald et al 2010).
Students complain that it can be difficult to get their mentor to give them constructive criticism (Gray and Smith 2000).

4. Why should I learn about feedback?
Mentors often describe challenges in terms of providing negative feedback, both oral and written, and maintaining student relationships (Clynes 2008).
A number of factors such as insufficient student contact time, busy units and inadequate preparation for the role were viewed as inhibiting the feedback process (Clynes and Ratfery 2008).

5. Questions for discussion

6. Questions for discussion
What is feedback?
What is the role of feedback in teaching and evaluation in practice experiences?
Why do we avoid giving feedback?
What characterises effective feedback?
What problems do we commonly encounter when giving feedback?

7. Brainstorm

8. Brainstorm and list ideas to address:
Why we should give feedback to learners?
How not to give feedback
How to give feedback

9. Defining feedback

10. What is feedback?
Communication to another person which gives information about how s/he affects and is perceived by others.
A way of helping another person consider changing his/her behaviour.
A way to enhance the learning process.
Feedback should be given in a way that the receiver can HEAR it, UNDERSTAND it and CHOOSE TO USE it or not to use it

11. Key elements of feedback
Time
Privacy
(too much / too little)
Balance
Use time as learning situation
(Hinchliff 1999)
“Praise sandwich”
Evidence from practice
(“you’re brilliant”)
Do not generalise
Do not compare to other students
Be clear
Offer solutions

12. Please consider… 1
Make it clear that the aim is to be helpful and constructive 2
Direct feedback to behaviours that can be changed 3
Focus on the subject or behaviour, not the person 4
Be descriptive of what you observed, not evaluative 5
Explain the impact and consequences of the actions/behaviour 6
Take into account the receiver’s needs, as well as your own 7
Be genuine and definitely not sarcastic or rude 8
Remember that what you say, see and hear is confidential

13. Non-violent communication

14. Non-violent communication (NVC)
Concept created by Marshall Rosenberg in order to help people exchange the information necessary to resolve conflicts and differences peacefully.
Four components:
Observation: The facts (what we see, hear or touch)
Feelings: Emotions or sensations, free of thought/story
Needs: As distinct from strategies to meet those needs
Request: For a specific action, free of demand.

15. Learning contract

16. Definition of learning contract
Short written agreement between a learner and a facilitator outlining:
What the learner will learn
How the learning will be accomplished
In a specific period
How the learning will be assessed
Allows learners to take responsibility for their learning
Learners are encouraged to be involved in creating, implementing and evaluating this learning.

17. Other theories and resources

18. Other theories Johari Window: Improve self-awareness
Conscious Competence Model (Howell 1982)
Reflection on or in practice (Schon 1987)
Online resource:

19. Conscious Competence Model
I use my son learning to drive to demonstrate this model:
When he was 15/16 he used to sit in the passenger seat and tell me how to drive – why don’t you park there, you could have overtaken there etc etc. He believed because he was a passenger he knew how to drive!.
When he had his first driving lesson, he became aware of what he did not know and asked questions (who what how when etc).
When he had been driving for a while he could drive but followed procedure (mirror, signal etc).
He now drives unconsciously, but I sometime wonder when I am a passenger in his care if he has moved back to unconscious incompetence.

20. Johari Window Known to self Not know to self Known to others
Open/free area
Blind area
Not known to others
Hidden area
Unknown area

21. Johari adjectives

22. References
Clynes, M. (2008) Providing feedback on clinical performance to student nurses in children’s nursing: challenges facing preceptors. Journal of Children's and Young People's Nursing 2(1):
Clynes, M. and Ratfery, S. (2008) Feedback an essential element of student learning in clinical practice. Nurse Education in Practice 8(6):
Fitzgerald, M., Gibson, F. and Gunn, K. (2010) Contemporary issues relating to assessment of pre-registration nursing students in practice. Nurse Education in Practice 10(3):
Grey, M. and Smith, L. (2000) The qualities of an effective mentor from the student nurses perspective: Findings of a longitudinal qualitative study. Journal of Advanced Nursing 32(6):