So we now know that in addition to being substantive, effective feedback addresses the kinds of growth the student most needs (what to give feedback about), and in addition to being regular, that feedback arrives in time for the student to use the information to improve (when to give feedback). That allows us to practice Better-than-RSI feedback, but we're still missing the meat of the equation: what does effective feedback look like? i.e., "What should I say?"

Feedback that is substantive and valuable appropriately identifies where a student falls on the spectrum of mastery. In a sense, it is an elaboration of the student's grade -- it explains what their current standing is with respect to a particular set of knowledge or skills, but it does not inherently give them any information about how to improve. How useful is information about where you are without information about where you should go? If our feedback arrived in time for you to make improvements, but without any guidance on how to improve, how effectively could you really use that time? How useful is an opportunity to improve without guidance to tell us how to improve?

The Hot/Cold Problem

Classically, much discussion of feedback has focused on the distinction between positive and negative feedback -- the way we respond to students who are on the right track vs. students who are not. Perhaps you're familiar with the children's game "Hot and Cold", a game about feedback. An object is secretly hidden, and those who know the hiding place give feedback to the seeker -- "hotter" (positive feedback) when they are closer to the object, and "colder" (negative feedback) when they are getting further away, until they eventually find the object. Which of these pieces of feedback is most valuable?

When you are hotter, you know that you are close, so you shouldn't wander too far from where you are. But when you are cold, there are many directions you could go. In this example, knowing that you are on the right track is significantly more useful than knowing that you are on the wrong track because the sooner you start getting "hot" the less feedback you will probably need to find your target.

In contrast, negative feedback is less useful the more wrong ways there are to do something. At the college level, problems typically have thousands, millions, or an infinite possibility of wrong answers, with relatively few correct answers. When asking our students to do high-level work, like write a paper, prepare a presentation, or design a solution to a problem, there are generally more approaches that will NOT produce successful work than ways that will. So in academics, when we respond to our students only by letting them know that they didn't do something right, we might not be helping them much at all. Imagine if in this section, we only told you not to use negative feedback, without ever saying what sort of feedback you should offer. The list of things you shouldn't say to students is probably much longer than the list of things you should. For this reason, positive feedback from a teacher is generally more useful than negative feedback. But while this is a good general rule, it is not universally true. Sometimes there are more right answers than wrong. If you stumble across a venomous snake on your way to the store, almost any direction you run is probably a good one! (Or, consider another popular children's game: Marco Polo, another game of feedback. In this game, there are many right answers, and only one wrong answer... getting caught by the tagger.)

Of course, positive feedback is great when the student does well, but what if the student is wrong? Do we simply avoid pointing out errors? Sometimes it seems to make little sense to draw attention to the many things the student has done well when there are a few things the student should focus on improving... it's the squeaky wheel that needs the oil.

Effective feedback can be either positive or negative. Most assessments will reveal a combination of things the student has done well and things which need improvement. In fact, it is often best to provide both positive and negative direction. This is why great instructors often use rubrics to crystallize in detail what substandard work looks like as much as what good work looks like, and why veteran instructors present examples of excellent student work and substandard student work. This transparency helps to chart a path to success.

Constructive Feedback

While the above guidelines are true and useful in many situations, ultimately, these analogies miss the most important component of good feedback. If you were trying to help someone find something important, and you knew the location, would you use this system of "hot" and "cold"? No, that would be ridiculous! You would simply look at where they are and tell them where to go to find what they are looking for. That path to success is the key to constructive feedback. Constructive feedback is not mere praise. (e.g., "Nice job!" or "You're so good at this!" or "You're getting warmer!") It is not a "compliment sandwich" where you say something nice, then something negative, then something nice again. Constructive feedback charts a path towards success. It says here is where you are, here is where you should be going, now here is how to get there.

Constructive feedback looks like:

"I see that you're struggling with the quadratic formula. Can you stop by my office so that we can review it together?"

"This is your best work yet! I think you should consider submitting it for a conference. It would be a great professional experience for you."

"You did a nice job with this; it would be even better if you included discussion of the marginalization of intersectional groups."

"This taxonomy analysis is incorrect. Try again using the mnemonic 'Do Kangaroos Prefer Cake Or Frosting, Generally Speaking?'"

Notice that effective feedback may include either hot or cold feedback, but what makes it effective is that it includes a learning strategy, advice, or opportunity (see the underlined). It outlines a process for growth -- a map to success. It tells the student something they should do. Even excellent work benefits from constructive feedback. There is always a next step for growth, even for your A+, 110% miracle student. So, don't settle for saying, "Yes, that's right!" That's not constructive feedback; it does not suggest an action to the student. It suggests that they don't need to do anything else and may create a false sense of perfection, and we always want to push our students to strive and grow. Sometimes those students benefit from your expert direction most of all.

Though you should be in the habit of being able to provide this kind of "diagnosis" of student work, it is not always necessary to prescribe these directions to your students -- at higher levels, asking students to reflect on their work and critique their own process may be appropriate as well. For example, asking questions like, "How do you think this could be better?" particularly when you have already offered instruction on effective processes that you would like students to use and want to prompt them to recall and apply that advice.

Principle #3: Effective feedback outlines a process for growth by providing learning advice, strategies, or opportunities.