I try to follow the ABC's of feedback and hope students will do the same...and by week 4 they are! A = acknowlege, b= build (with an intext citation to the current scholarly literature or course resources), C = close, often with a question.

Are others using this method of feedback with students?

Hello!!I don’t believe I am able to say that I have one specific method of providing feedback to students. At the same time, I realize that both positive and negative feedback is central to a well-rounded learning experience. Although the bulk of my feedback is focused on the content of the assignment in terms of making suggestions and identifying areas for improvement, it would be a disadvantage to the student, in my opinion, that we; as faculty, do not provide a broader level of feedback that encompasses the entire paper including writing skills, grammar, sentence structure, correct use and formatting of In-text citations and references to support what is being written as well as headings and subheadings etc to organize the paper...

What about others, do you look at and provide feedback in the areas I mention as well? 

Hello all!

I use feedback to improve and build student work and critical thinking. Specifically, I have no "pattern" to feedback but do uphold standards such as GUMS (grammar, word usage, sentence mechanics and spelling), organization and good writing skills.

As part of this, I post announcements in class about faculty expectations and provide suggested improvements.  Here is an example:

Dr. P’s Guidance:

Patete, A. (2018). The ABCs of Writing a Final Paper for Your Online Class. Also published on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/abcs-writing-final-paper-your-online-class-anthony-patete/

Also published at: http://onlinelearningtips.com/2018/08/writing-final-paper-online-class/

Tips for Using Academic Voice in Writing. (January 4, 2018). https://www.ashford.edu/online-degrees/online-learning/tips-for-using-academic-voice-in-writing?utm_source=LINKEDIN_COMPANY&utm_medium=Ashford+University&utm_campaign=Blog+new&linkId=62264947

Hedgepeth, W.O. (2019). Good Writing Matters, Especially in Online Classrooms. Retrieved from https://onlinelearningtips.com/2019/02/good-writing-matters/

_____APA template. All writing assignments are to be submitted in APA format. It is highly recommended that you create an APA template to insure compliance with the APA guidelines. To create an APA Template in Word, go to You Tube. On You Tube, search for “apa format 7th edition” and several videos will appear on how to draft an APA Template. I would view one or more of those videos and create an APA template. Once the template is created, save the file that way you can reuse the template in the future for all assignments. It is also recommended that you use headings to meet the grading rubric requirements and to further organize your paper. This can be found at either the Purdue OWL Website. A template has been posted as an Announcement to the class. Note, the APA is in its 7^th Edition. NOTE: THE APA 7^TH EDITION DOES NOT USE A “RUNNING HEAD”.
 

Writing A Substantive Discussion Post for An Online Class Forum.

Dr. P’s GUIDANCE: “IDEA” THEORY OF ONLINE DISCUSSIONS: How to write a substantive discussion post for an online class. https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/idea-theory-online-discussions-anthony-patete?published=t

http://onlinelearningtips.com/2016/12/15/post-online-class-forum/?utm_source=OLT&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_content=post-online-class-forum&utm_campaign=OLT-20161221-NT-APU

___b. Some of the language you are using is informal or conversational in style. Academic writing is structured and formal. What may seem appropriate in everyday conversation is not necessarily appropriate for your essay. 

___c. Unless you are writing a personal opinion or biographical paper, avoid the use of the personal pronouns "I" and "you." They are considered informal in academic writing. See this Writing Center page for help with first and third-person points of view: http://writingcenter.ashford.edu/first-vs-third-person

___d. Contractions are not appropriate in academic writing. Use "does not" instead of "doesn't" or "will not" instead of "won't." This will ensure a professional and academic tone.

___e. This paragraph does not contain a topic sentence which provides direction or connects back to the thesis. For additional information, please visit PURDUE OWL, located athttps://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/01/ to find help in this area

___f. This sentence/paragraph is hard to read and follow and is therefore awkward. How might you reword it to make your point clear to the reader? One piece of advice to avoid this type of writing error is to proof read the paper before submission and read it aloud so that you can “hear” the error.

___g. There is a missing comma after an introductory element. The following example demonstrates how to correct this error: “During her lunch break, she worked on homework.” For additional information, please visit PURDUE OWL, located at https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/section/1/   to find help in this area

___h. Keep in mind that it is considered plagiarism when you take words directly from a textbook or outside source without providing a citation. Often, this is unintentional. To avoid this, please summarize or paraphrase any outside material in your own words. For additional information, please visit PURDUE OWL, located at https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/01/ to find help in this area. A citation to the resource will then follow. 

Dr. P

I wish I could say I have a system. I check APA and am good at feedback on improving that. I look for content to include rubric items. Grammar check is usually not an issue with my classess but occasionally I need to address those issues. I am open to any suggestions to give better feedback. 

Deb Schwietert

Lisa, Joyce, Anthony, and Deb,

Thank you all for your replies and for such a solid start to this important topic. The thoughts expressed here not only represent assignment feedback, but formative feedback for successful DQ’s (Thanks, Lisa!).

Joyce, I appreciated your comments about how we need to give students a mix of positive and negative feedback. Certainly feedback involves identifying the gaps, but also remembering to praise and to tell students what they are doing right.  In my classes, after I have graded assignments, I post a forum message and encourage students to 1) Review their feedback 2) Post areas they need to address. An “aha” moment for me was when one student told me that while he appreciated the areas he needed to improve, he also felt like he needed an overall idea of whether he was getting it. What a powerful reminder for me! Joyce, you also mentioned that we may not encompass everything. A great rule of thumb would be simply to comment on all the rubric areas. There is definitely a thing as too much feedback, so this practice lets us stay commensurate with the assignment expectations.

Anthony, agreed, the role of instruction in feedback is paramount in the online classroom. Indeed, I believe that as online instructors, it’s our responsibility to view feedback as a teaching opportunity. You have excellent resources for your students! I would like to know, what do students say in your EOCS comments? Do you receive a lot of comments on the resources you provide?

Hi Deb!

I’m sure you are not alone in not having any kind of system and for me, the truth is that I create then break the very systems I provide. The scholarly literature on feedback (and particularly, its role in the online classroom) is rich and deep. A favorite kind of baseline of mine comes from Hattie and Timperley (2007). Their simple framework is focused on the three questions that should be addressed for the student: Where am I going? How am I going? Where to next? (Hattie & Timperley, 2007). When our summative comments cover these bases, our feedback is truly formative.

From all of you, I would like to know: Loud Cloud will now allow us to comment directly onto the Lopeswrite report. The comments we provide here show up as “Faculty Comments” in purpose boxes. This saves us time in opening/saving/attaching student papers. Who has used this? Are you planning on trying it?

Reference

Hattie, J. & Timperley, H. (2007). The power of feedback. Review of educational research, 77(1), 81-112. http://dx.doi.org/10.3102/003465430298487

Thanks, Joyce! 

I agree that we need to show students strengths and areas of growth in their papers through embedded feedback. It's all too easy for us to hyper-focus on the surface errors and to neglect to tell students what they are also doing right. Something I have discussed with other faculty is that our feedback should be commensurate with the rubric weights. That is, if formatting is only 10% of the rubric, while content/development is 60%, do our comments on student papers mirror those proportions? Should they? 

Also, have you tried the new Lopeswrite feature that allows our comments directly on the report? This has saved me lots of time not having to upload. 

Another question: Are you using any technology to assist in providing feedback?

Many students need work in  1) organizing and structuring essays and paragraphs and constructing arguments/furnishing evidence to support claims.

In providing feedback on essay I focus on the following areas in addition to the specific demands of the rubric:

1) Does the essay contain a thesis sentence which points specific direction to the major idea contained in the essay

2) Does the essay contain headings, are the headings framed as questions and closely tied to assignment requirements. This helps to insure that students address each of the major criteria in the rubric.

3) Does the essay contain quotations from the textbook/assigned reading which support their arguments

4) Do each of their major paragraphs contain a thesis sentence.  Some students write paragraphs containing sentences which are only loosely connected to one another with a resulting loss of unity and coherence.

To increase unity and coherence  I often suggest that students view writing as a process of asking and answering questions for the reader. When you start a paragraph ask yourself what question do i want to ask and answer for the reader in this paragraph.  What, why and how are the Big 3 in analytical writing.  It's  kind of  combination of high school journalism (5 W's and the Lonely H) and the "Tony the Bricklayer" approach to writing.  Sometimes it works, sometimes it a hard sell. :)

Just some thoughts  Chris

I find myself falling back on the Situation-Behavior-Impact (SBI) Feedback Model (Center for Creative Leadership, 2017) more and more. 

• Situation. State the situation.
• Behavior. Describe the behavior observed.
• Impact. Describe your reaction to the behavior, or the behavior's impact.

I then expand on the SBI by offering specific ways to improve for the future or ask what was the intention. For me, this model works well, since I use the SBI model not just when teaching, but in providing feedback to people I work with, too.

Reference:
Center for Creative Leadership (2017). Use the SBI Feedback Model to Understand Intent. Retrieved from: https://www.ccl.org/articles/leading-effectively-articles/closing-the-gap-between-intent-and-impact/

Hi MaryBeth!!!!

I truly appreciate your comments and questions. As for grading assignments, I always follow the rubrics provided for grading each assignment. Rubrics that I am provided to guide in the grading process are consistently used and scores are always based on what the rubric allows for each content element.

Because I am primarily teaching in the Doctor of Nurse Practice (DNP) program, there are certain DNP writing expectations for both content as well as APA formatting. Therefore, I am not very slight when it comes to the APA formatting although it carries less weight than content throughout the core program courses; as is with all of the other GCU programs. I feel that we; as faculty, do students a disservice by not pointing out what they’re doing right as well as what they’re doing wrong because I know what is required at the end of the program and that is that they present a final manuscript that is free of errors in content and in APA formatting.

As for the use of technology in the classrooms, I generally do not introduce any new technology other than what GCU provides as far as training and other strategies to assist students to be successful in the program.  Thank you. Joyce

Joyce,

Thanks for sharing that perspective. I certainly don't mean to underscore the importance of APA style. Indeed, it could almost be considered a pre-requisite, a given, and I also believe in helping students by pointing out specific areas where we can help. 

One advantage of technology regarding formatting is that if we grade using Loom or Screencast, we can often show our students things like selecting font or applying a hanging indent. A demo is worth a thousand words!

Elizabeth,

The topic of feedback runs deep and I was hoping we could get to what you are discussing. I look forward to becoming more familiar with the SBI model. Some of its elements overlap other theorists. Specifically, literature often refers to beginning with "Goal orientation." This means we begin our summative feedback articulating the goal of the assignment, which promotes self-assessment for the students. In my previous post, I noted Hattie and Timperley's (2007) feedback framework and more specifically, when we address "Where am I going?", that is goal orientation. For efficiency, I create a statement that is a strong opener for feedback and this can be used with any submission, because it is just the opener and does not address specific gaps (like we do in stage 2). Thank you for sharing this great model! How do you apply time management to your feedback without sacrificing quality? 

Chris,

Excellent that you focus on what the students are doing right, in addition to pointing out areas they need to improve upon. In Loud Cloud, we have the rubric boxes. Do you find it necessary to always complete them or are there circumstances where you might leave these blank? 

Reference

Hattie, J. & Timperley, H. (2007). The power of feedback. Review of educational research, 77(1), 81-112. http://dx.doi.org/10.3102/003465430298487

Here is another question for everyone. We have been discussing feedback models and they can be helpful in giving us a framework for our feedback. However, when we think back on the main purpose of feedback, the question that comes to mind is, "Is it possible to give too much feedback?" What guidelines do you have to limit your feedback?

That's a really tough question, MaryBeth.

With many of the assignments I grade having extensive grading rubric criteria that GCU wants for assessment purposes, it is tough to limit the feedback that needs to be provided back to students. Is there a recommended way to make this easier?

Personally, I have my own little comment pool I like to use and re-use to help with time management.

Elizabeth,

I think there is nothing wrong with re-using parts of our comments. Specifically, how we open our feedback should be a kind of anchoring/orientation to the assignment, as this can develop self-efficacy for our students. For example, 

"An annotated bibliography is an important early step in your research process..." And then the individual feedback can follow. 

I guess when I think of too much feedback, my thoughts go to the students who may have gaps in their skills. We don't want to discourage students by making the whole paper red (or whatever color of track changes we select). There are times when it may be appropriate to abandon the grammar and mechanics and to let students know that they need some additional resources in these areas, but for the remainder of the paper, the focus will be strictly on the content. Have you done this?

Elizabeth, did you know that we can now comment directly on the Lopeswrite report for students? This can be a great time saver over providing comments on their submitted Word documents, because now there is no need to save, attach, and upload. Have you tried this?