How can I provide regular feedback to students on their progress?

A key concern for some students is that they do not know how they are progressing prior to census, leading them to drop units of study, or sometimes their entire course. It is critical to retention that students are provided with feedback early and regularly to indicate how they are progressing. This need not be in the form of grades; it could be verbal feedback through class activities or formative assessment tasks.

Strategies and Tips

Use quick assessment techniques to allow students to check their understanding of important unit concepts as you discuss them in lectures or class. You can use one-minute paper or peer instruction techniques during lectures and class, or integrate a personal response system, such as Menti.

If your unit is one where students need to master certain skills or subjects before moving on to higher level skills (such as mathematical concepts) embed regular formative online quizzes that allow students to test their acquisition of these skills, and leave them open so students can continue to practice.

Use student-centred learning activities in class that allow you to adopt a facilitation style teaching technique in class. This way you can go around to individual students and groups and provide personal feedback in real time.

Incorporate peer feedback (informal or formal) for students to provide feedback to each other. In this case, it is important first to build students’ capabilities for providing constructive peer feedback.

Be selective in your feedback markers don’t need to give a lot of written feedback; rather, it should focus on what students need to know to move forward.

Practical Tip

Using Menti.com for instant feedback and engagement

Resource by the University of Michigan on best practice for using Personal Response Systems

Information on the One Minute Paper technique

Information on the Peer Instruction teaching technique

Quick sheet on peer assessment

Using comment banks for feedback and feedforward.
This library resource has some very useful information on general principles of good feedback & feedforward.

Study Smart Academic Literacy QuickMark sets
An overview of the Study Smart QuickMark sets available in the Turnitin Feedback Studio

Looking into deeper design

Consider how skills and knowledge tested in earlier assessments can link into later assessments. For example, you might consider having students write an annotated bibliography, before completing a literature review or essay, or have students complete two-stage assessments (in assessments such as portfolios or projects) where students are expected to improve their assessment drawing on earlier feedback (Carless et al 2011). Good assessment alignment can allow you to open up valuable feedback dialogues with your students.