Closing the loop: Feedback and follow-up

So often, we see testing and assessment used to produce an end result - a grade or a percentage mark - and students are given no further information. Sometimes this is a time or resource issue, other times a force of habit, but when we seriously consider the issue, the ideal situation is clearly to give students as much useful feedback as possible so they can improve their knowledge, skills and attitudes before the next test.

Let me illustrate with a somewhat politically incorrect example. The feedback loop for testing is a bit like encouraging an old-fashioned male to start cooking the evening meal on a regular basis. If he cooks an unidentifiable mess of meat and vegetables which even the dog wouldn’t eat, and the only response those that (attempt to) eat it give is a generic “grade” - such as, “it was alright”, “it was good”, or “it was awful” - how will he know what to do the next time? There are plenty of dangers here: if he gets an “it was alright” he’s more than likely to cook the same awful mess the next week, and the next week, and so on. Getting an “it was awful” is more likely to mean that he will never bother to try cooking again.

It’s the same with students. If they receive an average or above average mark, and no further information, more than likely they will continue to study in just the same ways. If students receive a failing mark with no accompanying feedback, it can be even more disconcerting. Either they will be completely discouraged and give up studying altogether, or they will continue with damaged self-esteem and no clear route to improvement.

Thus it is fairly clear that providing effective feedback to students is a most important final step in the testing and assessment process. But what exactly is effective feedback? Does it have to be a time-consuming process or can it be streamlined to give appropriate feedback without placing an undue burden on teachers and markers?

Generic feedback worksheets are already used quite commonly to provide feedback to students on tasks like essays and reports. The key marking criteria, which may include aspects of the content or topic to be covered, writing style and grammar, presentation, and so on can be listed in a table, with an empty column to be filled in by the marker. In this column the marker may include a breakdown of the final mark (such as 4 out of 5 for style and grammar) and a comment where necessary.

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