Providing Feedback

Students love receiving feedback on their academic work, but not all feedback is effective. To be effective, feedback needs to be timely, encouraging, and tailored to the student.

Providing Effective Feedback

Effective feedback is prompt, productive, and supports intellectual growth. Avoid feedback that is harsh, negative, or overwhelming in volume. Here are some helpful feedback tips to keep in mind.

• Be specific.
• Establish trust and respect.
• Identify grammatical error patterns opposed to noting all errors throughout.
• Limit comments to what is important; avoid overwhelming the student.
• Use “I” instead of “you” (e.g., “I got lost here. Did you mean…?”)
• Use questions instead of criticisms, such as, “Is the thesis supported?” or “Is the purpose of the paper clearly stated?”
• Provide specific suggestions. For example, “In future papers try to support your declarative statements with citations from the literature.”
• Follow up on previous comments. For example, “The use of transition sentences are more evident compared to your previous paper.”
• Reference specific grading criteria.
• Provide genuine praise.
• When stating single phrases of praise, try to elaborate. For example, “Good introduction. It provides a clear thesis, logical supportive statements, and introduces the purpose of the paper.”

Learn More

For more information, watch recordings of events related to grading.