Challenges to Providing Effective Feedback

by Jessie L. Moore

October 20, 2022

60-Second SoTL – Episode 8

This week’s episode features a recent article from the open-access journal, Teaching & Learning Inquiry, and explores instructors’ perspectives on challenges to providing effective feedback:

Paris, Brit M. 2022. “Instructors’ Perspectives of Challenges and Barriers to Providing Effective Feedback.” Teaching and Learning Inquiry 10. https://doi.org/10.20343/teachlearninqu.10.3

View a transcript of this episode.

The episode was hosted by Jessie L. Moore, Director of the Center for Engaged Learning and Professor of Professional Writing & Rhetoric. 60-Second SoTL is produced by the Center for Engaged Learning at Elon University.

Read More about Effective Feedback Processes

  • Agius, Natalie M., and Ann Wilkinson. 2014. “Students’ and Teachers’ Views of Written Feedback at Undergraduate Level: A Literature Review.” Nurse Education Today 34 (4): 552–559. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nedt.2013.07.005
  • Boud, David, and Elizabeth Molloy. 2013. “Rethinking Models of Feedback for Learning: The Challenge of Design.” Assessment and Evaluation in Higher Education 38 (6): 698–712. https://doi.org/10.1080/02602938.2012.691462
  • Carless, David, and David Boud. 2018. “The Development of Student Feedback Literacy: Enabling Uptake of Feedback.” Assessment and Evaluation in Higher Education 2938 (May): 1–11. https://doi.org/10.1080/02602938.2018.1463354 [Open Access]
  • Carless, David, and Naomi Winstone. 2020. “Teacher Feedback Literacy and Its Interplay with Student Feedback Literacy Feedback Literacy.” Teaching in Higher Education, 1–14. https://doi.org/10.1080/13562517.2020.1782372
  • Dawson, Phillip, Michael Henderson, Paige Mahoney, Michael Phillips, Tracii Ryan, David Boud, and Elizabeth Molloy. 2019. “What Makes for Effective Feedback: Staff and Student Perspectives.” Assessment and Evaluation in Higher Education 44 (1): 25–36. https://doi.org/10.1080/02602938.2018.1467877 [Open Access]
  • Eli Review. n.d. “Feedback and Improvement: Becoming a Better Writer by Helping Other Writers.” https://elireview.com/content/students/feedback [Open Access]
  • Eli Review. n.d. “The Pedagogy: Feedback and Revision.” https://elireview.com/learn/pedagogy/ [Open Access]
  • Henderson, Michael, Tracii Ryan, and Michael Phillips. 2019. “The Challenges of Feedback in Higher Education.” Assessment and Evaluation in Higher Education 44 (8): 1237–52. https://doi.org/10.1080/02602938.2019.1599815
  • Henderson, Michael, Tracii Ryan, David Boud, Phillip Dawson, Michael Phillips, Elizabeth Molloy, and Paige Mahoney. 2019a. “The Usefulness of Feedback.” Active Learning in Higher Education, September, 146978741987239. https://doi.org/10.1177/1469787419872393 [Open Access]
  • Henderson, Michael, Michael Phillips, Tracii Ryan, David Boud, Elizabeth Molloy, and Paige Mahoney. 2019b. “Conditions That Enable Effective Feedback.” Higher Education Research and Development 38 (7): 1–16. https://doi.org/10.1080/07294360.2019.1657807 [Open Access]
  • To, Jessica. 2021. “Using Learner-Centred Feedback Design to Promote Students’ Engagement with Feedback.” Higher Education Research and Development, February, 1–16. https://doi.org/10.1080/07294360.2021.1882403
  • Winstone, Naomi E., and David Carless. 2019. Designing Effective Feedback Processes in Higher Education. Abingdon: Routledge.

Read More about Feedback from CEL’s Blog

White tet on a background of blue and yellow cyclical arrows reads: "The feedback loop has helped me to think about feedback use in cycles, in contrast to feedback approaches that simply justify a mark or grade.”

Assessing Student Feedback Literacy 

In the last blog post, I discussed my initial plans for feedback this semester. A few insights have helped me to plan effective feedback strategies. The feedback loop (Clark and Talbert 2023) structures students’ engagement with feedback they receive to…

Orange square with quite quoted text reads: "Quality feedback will give students an indication of their progress towards meeting learning goals and outcomes."

Planning for Effective Feedback and Promoting Feedback Literacy 

As I continue to explore literature on models of assessment and feedback, the importance of feedback and feedback literacy has emerged as an ongoing theme. At the time of this writing, my colleagues and I are preparing for the spring…

Green background. Text on the left reads: The potential for ChatGPT to get match problems wrong forces conscientious students to use generative AI output critically and always assess its accuracy. To the right of text is a screenshot of handwritten math notes taken on a tablet in black pencil; pink and green highlights emphasize important math steps.

Analyzing an Artificial Intelligence-Supported Assessment and Student Feedback 

In my prior blog post, I summarized lessons learned from piloting an artificial intelligence-supported assessment (AI-SA) and gathering student feedback. This work was framed by Clark and Talbert’s feedback loop model where I used feedback I gathered from students during…

A gradient background with a text overlay: "I found that ChatGPT assisted most students with explaining these challenging concepts and applications for their non-expert readers... I hoped that students would use my feedback to make changes to how they demonstrate evidence of their learning when ChatGPT is available for their use."

Applying Lessons Learned about Student Use of Generative AI in Academics

In previous blog posts, I shared the results of a focus group interview about students’ perceptions of using generative AI in their academics. The focus group interview took place at the end of fall semester 2023 after my students completed an…

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