Receiving Feedback

My students have just received their feedback for the first assessment. I spend a lot of time agonising over what to write. I need to offer constructive criticism, but not destroy them in the process. The saddest part is I know that many of them, usually the ones who really need to act on the feedback, won’t read it. And I get it, I really do. I teach a lot of students who didn’t do well at school, they are old hands at being criticised and see any form of feedback as just another put-down, another indication that they are destined for failure.

Here are my top 5 tips for those students, please share them with the students in your life. I hope they help.

• Feedback is not personal. This is feedback only on your work, not you as a person.

• Tutors write feedback because they want to help you improve. They think you are worthy of the feedback, the time it took to write it, and that you have the ability to produce good work.

• A good tutor highlights what you do well as well as what you can improve on. Read the good comments too and take them on board too. Celebrate the wins.

• Look at your feedback across all units - are there similarities? If you are getting picked up for the same errors, make those your priority. Create a list of what you need to improve on in order of priority and come up with a plan to tackle the list. Believe me when I say that none of us spring from the womb able to reference using the APA.

• Remember why you started studying in the first place. You’re here to learn, right? If you already know it all there’s no point in being enrolled. Embrace the journey and the learning that goes along with it. (And please read the feedback!)