Feedback on written work in English
“My students are always asking for more feedback in course evaluations – I don’t understand it, I already give them lots!”
“My students only seem to care about their grade, not my feedback.”
“I invest lots of time and energy in giving feedback, but my students don’t seem to engage with it or learn much from it.”
Do these questions sound familiar to you? If so, you might benefit from taking this course about how to give efficient, effective feedback on student writing.
Please note: this course focuses on giving feedback on student work written in English. If your students write in Dutch, please see the Dutch course here.
Good to know
| Target audience | Instructors who want to give more effective and efficient feedback on student work written in English | |
| Prior knowledge | No specific prior knowledge required | |
| Required time investment | 2 three-hour sessions | |
| Trainer | Trainer from UvA Institute for Dutch Language Education | |
| Group composition | Between 3 (minimum) and 8 (maximum) participants | |
| Dates | For the sessions in English there are no set dates. If you’re interested, please let us know at tlc@uva.nl |
Course details
In this course we will explore what constitutes useful feedback and how to give feedback efficiently. We focus on the following questions:
- What are the different methods of giving feedback?
- What constitutes effective, meaningful feedback?
- What kind of feedback is ineffective or unhelpful?
- How can you ensure your feedback actually helps students learn and improve?
- Which aspects of student writing should you focus on in your feedback?
- What is the best way to give feedback on language issues?
- How can you integrate feedback in your course design?
- How can you use self, group and peer feedback in your courses?
- What are good feedback practices in thesis supervision?
- How can you give feedback more efficiently?
There will also be plenty of room for discussion about any problems you encounter in your own practice in giving feedback.
Two sessions
The first session provides a theoretical background on feedback: what constitutes effective feedback? Why do students not always engage with our feedback? Which different approaches are there to giving feedback? We will use this background to evaluate sample instructor feedback for its effectiveness. You will come away with an overview of practical insights and tips from the research, and you will be asked to reflect on your own feedback practices in this new light as preparation for the next session.
In the second session, we explore the practice of giving feedback. We will reflect on how the techniques discussed in the last session might inform your teaching practice and how to integrate peer, self, group and instructor feedback in your course design in order to make it as effective as possible. We will explore how to decide which areas to focus on in your feedback, and what to do with language issues in student writing. We also discuss the role of feedback in thesis supervision. Finally, we cover time-saving techniques and how to structure your feedback process as efficiently as possible.
Frequently asked questions
Before the course, you will hand in a text with feedback you provided, so that the trainer has an idea of your approach. After the first session, you will be asked to reflect on your own feedback practices in light of the theory covered. This serves as input for a discussion in the second session.
More information?