There is strong evidence that making comments on students’ work is really significant. One study a few years ago discovered that the students in classes where the teacher gave comments rather than just marks made better progress. So Umaru was going in the right direction! Feedback only in terms of marks or grades is unlikely to improve learning, but comments (written and oral) do. But the comment is best when it is more than just “Well done” or a similar short phrase.
Remember always that your comments should provide a prompt to help the student to move forward. A question, therefore, can be more effective at helping understanding than just giving the student the information. You might need two or three questions to elicit the understanding, but this develops a very powerful approach to teaching and learning. For example, you could say to a student: “This is good so far, but have you thought about which factors affect your breathing rate? You could write in your ideas about this at the end.”
Some teachers have developed sets of cards that they use when giving feedback. The cards might have some half-completed statements on, such as:
- Have you thought about …
- Discuss this with your partner …
- Look in your book on page …
The teacher moves quickly around the class giving out cards to some and filling in the spaces appropriately. For example: “Have you thought about comparing the right- and left-hand sides of the table?” Or: “Look in your book on page 63. Look especially at the diagram.” Students often like the idea of getting a card. And it’s a quick way for the teacher to establish a dialogue with a larger number of students.
In giving feedback, it is wise to use a variety of techniques and strategies to keep students interested and to help you engage with as many students as you can.
Keeping track of the feedback you give is useful — this will ensure that no student is left out and it helps you to track all the students’ progress.