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Components of Constructive Feedback

Giving constructive feedback on your students work is one of your most important duties as a teacher. Delivered well, constructive feedback encourages your students to produce their best work. Setting very clear criteria in your assignments, and thinking through how you will deliver feedback to students in advance can help to avoid some of the inevitable tension that surrounds grading, feedback and critiques. It also guides and motivates students to do their best work.

1. Start with clear criteria on your assignments. Any feedback you give should refer back to this.

2. Highlight 1-3 points well done and 1-3 points for improvement (and HOW to improve). Limit the feedback that you give to students to the most important points so as not to overwhelm them. These detailed points are especially important for in-process evaluations, or for work that you allow students to resubmit.

3. Give an overall grade or evaluation. Students need to know if the work is acceptable overall or not.

4. Inspire students to do better. This is where the really great teaching comes in. Let your students know that you believe in them. Relate stories of feedback you get from clients in the “real world”. Reiterate that you are giving feedback on the work, not judging the students.

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