3.1 Quiz: Beyond the Bare Minimum

So, you have a plan to regularly deliver academic feedback to your students.  We know that in addition to being regular, good feedback is substantive, of an academic nature.  But what should that feedback look like?   Feedback that is regular and academically relevant is just a baseline for compliance... not necessarily best practice.  How do we make our feedback effective?  As will quickly become apparent, while RSI is an essential component of quality online course delivery, it really only reflects the bare minimum.  Best practices recommend many other elements for teacher-student interactions, and even feedback which satisfies "regular" and "substantive" could be considered very poor.  Consider the following:

Better-than-Regular Interaction

"Complying" with regular interaction could mean messaging students every week about how they did on a quiz, but not offering any real opportunity to use that information to improve their score in the class.  Perhaps the student really didn't understand the chapter reading, and would have benefited from reviewing it.  How useful is regular interaction if it is regularly too late to be acted on?  If it is too late to make corrections, prepare for an upcoming test, or do well in a job interview?  There is a world of difference in a piece of advice that arrives in time to prepare the student for success compared to a piece of feedback that arrived eventually because RSI regulations demanded it.  We want to give students feedback before it is too late ("I recommend reviewing the chapter again before next week's quiz, and speak with me if you have questions"), instead of after ("you didn't do very well on the vocabulary section, perhaps you should have reread the chapter").  

Of course you will have some summative assessments like major assignments and exams which may not always be possible to provide feedback that is actionable within your course, but consider how that feedback informs the student's future outside of your class.  While you should consider including opportunities to make corrections and resubmit work, or take practice tests, not all actionable feedback has to prepare students for an upcoming assignment in your class.  Feedback on a final exam could prepare students for other challenges, like college entrance exams, professional certifications, or even workplace situations they may encounter.  

Principle #1: Effective feedback regularly arrives in time for the student to use your expertise to improve their performance on upcoming challenges and assessments.  In other words, effective feedback is not only regular, but actionable.

Better-than-Substantive Interaction

"Complying" with substantive interaction could include many types of academic feedback.  For example, what if your feedback wasn't advanced enough?  What if your feedback addresses something very basic that the student didn't need help with at all?  Just because a piece of feedback relates to the course subject doesn't mean it is truly speaking to your expertise.  Could the student find this information on their own with a quick internet search?  Is this information actually preparing the student to do better on an upcoming assessment, or extending their understanding of the course material at a new level?  What if your feedback was too advanced for the student?  Ask yourself, if my student struggled with the material, will they understand this feedback?     

Principle #2: Effective feedback should reflect the teacher's expertise by addressing valuable areas for growth with respect to the student's level of mastery.  In other words, it is not only academically substantive, but truly valuable according to the student's individual needs.

As you can see, not all interactions that are regular and substantive are equally effective.  At GHC, we strive to do much better than the minimum.  Effective interactions are both regularly on time to prepare students for upcoming challenges, and appropriately matched to the student's needs according to what is truly valuable for them to know. 

Quiz: Regular and Substantive or Actionable and Valuable?

Test your knowledge of interaction best practices in this short quiz.

You have two attempts for this quiz.