The Importance of Feedback
Students need to hear your feedback during the assessment. Doing so allows them to:
Make progress in their training by learning how they could improve for future projects and which specific skills they need to work on.
Taking a step towards the working world by identifying what will be expected of them in their future career.
No matter the quality of the student’s work, it is always possible to provide constructive feedback! Here’s how.
Structure Your Feedback
1. Outline the Positives
If the student has done their presentation and answered your questions, it’s time to offer them feedback! Always start with the positives, focusing on the project’s target skills. For example, you could outline:
The overall quality of the deliverables.
One specific skill: They could have demonstrated certain skills very well or gone above and beyond in one of the deliverables, etc.
The oral presentation quality: The student’s presentation was particularly clear, fluid, or well-structured and they displayed a very professional attitude, etc.
2. Outline Areas for Improvement
Any criticism should be concise, straight to the point, and justifiable. Here are some rules for making sure that you remain constructive when highlighting negative aspects of a student’s work:
Focus on observable evidence, not your interpretation. Explain these specific examples to the student.
Express your feelings and outline how the student’s work would have made you feel in the workplace:
Share concrete advice and recommendations that the student can easily act upon.
3. Launch the Debate
To ensure you don’t leave the student facing a closed-door (especially if you have concluded your feedback with a piece of advice), you should launch the debate by asking a question.
Let’s Recap!
No matter the level of quality of the work, you should always provide constructive feedback, identify the student’s strengths, and the areas for improvement.
Always start with the positives: which deliverables met the assessment criteria, and which skills did they acquire?
Then move on to the areas for improvement, basing your feedback on specific examples and concrete actions that the student can take.
