Wednesday, March 11, 2015

Feedback versus Praise in an Online Class

Feedback by giulia.forsythe, on Flickr

In an online learning environment it becomes abundantly clear that face to face communication virtually disappears, body language and tone are no longer seen and heard, and a teacher's 'wining personality' is no longer an effective way to motivate students.  When conducting a feedback survey for students and support persons' in regards to our divisions online learning two comments in particular really stood out to me:
  • Another thing that would be very helpful is a lot of positive feedback because I know for me positive feedback helps me to keep pushing when I am stuck and cant get focused
  • I find there is not much feedback given by teachers, but when it is, it is useful. The students look for it!
To be honest I hadn't given much thought to the type of feedback I was giving my students.  Sometimes it was very detailed and specific and sometimes it was simply a written 'well done'.  I am a firm believer in timely feedback, my personal policy is that assignments get marked and returned within 3 days of being handed in.  However; if I am to look further into the feedback issue being graded in a timely fashion is not the same as receiving timely feedback.  If a student hands in an assignment and I have it graded with an 80% that says 'well done', where is the motivation, where is the information on how to improve, where even is the feedback on what went well so that it can be repeated in the future? 

There is all kinds of research on effective feedback but the more I thought about it I wasn't even sure I understood the term feedback, or feedback versus praise, feedback versus advice, and feedback versus marking.  I was taught to give a feedback sandwich: what went well, what needed to be improved, followed by what went well. Perfect right?  Maybe not, I recently read an article on the 'feedback sandwich' that said:
One of the most common mistakes instructors make is to use the “feedback sandwich” with students. Their feedback starts with the good, then stating the real issues with the work, and ending with something good again. Here again, the model is used under the belief that it keeps up the student’s spirits, but in reality it only confuses the message. The student reads only the positive at either end and ignores the real message in the middle that they need to hear in order to improve, or they recognize the dissonance between the conflicting messages and wonder how they really did. “Gee,” they say to themselves, “the beginning and the end tell me this is great, while the middle says that there are all sorts of problems, so which is it?” The feedback sandwich can even reduce respect for the instructor since students will soon learn that no matter what they hand in, the instructor will praise it along a predictable formula, making the feedback meaningless and something to be ignored. - See more at: http://www.facultyfocus.com/articles/educational-assessment/praise-undermining-student-motivation/#sthash.zfwBgi2Z.dpuf
 Yikes, here I thought I was doing it right the whole time!  My search for effective feedback has lead me to more questions than answers but it will be leading my professional growth for the foreseeable future.  Below are just a few of my findings and food for thought on how to improve online teaching through effective feedback.

What is feedback?  Feedback is information about how we are doing in our efforts to reach a goal. source  For example:  Your artwork uses the rule of thirds well with placement of the trees along the focal points.  I was unsure of where your focus was with the ground or sky since the horizon was in the middle of the artwork.  Note: In order for effective feedback there needs to be a clear goal!

What is praise? Praise has to do with approval or admiration of someone or something. For example:  I really liked your point of view in the article.  With this example in particular you can see where the student would pick up quite quickly on looking for what the teacher likes and doesn't like when doing their assignments rather than focusing on their own learning.  

What is advice? Advice is a recommendation.  Sometimes a subtle nudge: You may want to try to put the horizon line on the top third of the page. Sometimes not so subtle: Your horizon line is in the middle of the page. Follow the rule of thirds!! The problem with advice as pointed out by Grant Wiggins is that "As coaches, teachers, and parents, we too often jump right to advice without first ensuring that the learner has sought, grasped, and tentatively accepted the feedback on which the advice is based.... Students become increasingly insecure about their own judgment and dependent on the advice of experts"

It is abundantly clear that, especially in an online environment where communication can be limited, feedback needs to be given top priority to ensure student motivation and connection to their learning. We need to make sure that students are not looking to please their instructor or given advice without understanding. If students are to truly engage in their learning and set goals for their own improvement feedback needs to be specific, directed towards their learning goal, and free of praise.
One of the most common mistakes instructors make is to use the “feedback sandwich” with students. Their feedback starts with the good, then stating the real issues with the work, and ending with something good again. Here again, the model is used under the belief that it keeps up the student’s spirits, but in reality it only confuses the message. The student reads only the positive at either end and ignores the real message in the middle that they need to hear in order to improve, or they recognize the dissonance between the conflicting messages and wonder how they really did. “Gee,” they say to themselves, “the beginning and the end tell me this is great, while the middle says that there are all sorts of problems, so which is it?” The feedback sandwich can even reduce respect for the instructor since students will soon learn that no matter what they hand in, the instructor will praise it along a predictable formula, making the feedback meaningless and something to be ignored. - See more at: http://www.facultyfocus.com/articles/educational-assessment/praise-undermining-student-motivation/#sthash.zfwBgi2Z.dpuf
One of the most common mistakes instructors make is to use the “feedback sandwich” with students. Their feedback starts with the good, then stating the real issues with the work, and ending with something good again. Here again, the model is used under the belief that it keeps up the student’s spirits, but in reality it only confuses the message. The student reads only the positive at either end and ignores the real message in the middle that they need to hear in order to improve, or they recognize the dissonance between the conflicting messages and wonder how they really did. “Gee,” they say to themselves, “the beginning and the end tell me this is great, while the middle says that there are all sorts of problems, so which is it?” The feedback sandwich can even reduce respect for the instructor since students will soon learn that no matter what they hand in, the instructor will praise it along a predictable formula, making the feedback meaningless and something to be ignored. - See more at: http://www.facultyfocus.com/articles/educational-assessment/praise-undermining-student-motivation/#sthash.zfwBgi2Z.dpuf
One of the most common mistakes instructors make is to use the “feedback sandwich” with students. Their feedback starts with the good, then stating the real issues with the work, and ending with something good again. Here again, the model is used under the belief that it keeps up the student’s spirits, but in reality it only confuses the message. The student reads only the positive at either end and ignores the real message in the middle that they need to hear in order to improve, or they recognize the dissonance between the conflicting messages and wonder how they really did. “Gee,” they say to themselves, “the beginning and the end tell me this is great, while the middle says that there are all sorts of problems, so which is it?” The feedback sandwich can even reduce respect for the instructor since students will soon learn that no matter what they hand in, the instructor will praise it along a predictable formula, making the feedback meaningless and something to be ignored. - See more at: http://www.facultyfocus.com/articles/educational-assessment/praise-undermining-student-motivation/#sthash.zfwBgi2Z.dpuf
One of the most common mistakes instructors make is to use the “feedback sandwich” with students. Their feedback starts with the good, then stating the real issues with the work, and ending with something good again. Here again, the model is used under the belief that it keeps up the student’s spirits, but in reality it only confuses the message. The student reads only the positive at either end and ignores the real message in the middle that they need to hear in order to improve, or they recognize the dissonance between the conflicting messages and wonder how they really did. “Gee,” they say to themselves, “the beginning and the end tell me this is great, while the middle says that there are all sorts of problems, so which is it?” The feedback sandwich can even reduce respect for the instructor since students will soon learn that no matter what they hand in, the instructor will praise it along a predictable formula, making the feedback meaningless and something to be ignored. - See more at: http://www.facultyfocus.com/articles/educational-assessment/praise-undermining-student-motivation/#sthash.zfwBgi2Z.dpuf