Giving feedback students act on

Who this is for

This guide is for teachers who give written feedback on drafts, reports, essays or problem sets and want students to use it. The example is a physics lab report, but the same plan works for an English paragraph or a coding project.

The plan at a glance

1. 1.Read the whole piece once before you write anything.
2. 2.Choose the one or two issues that will help this student most.
3. 3.Write each comment as specific next steps: what to change, where, and how they can tell it worked.
4. 4.Name one thing that is working, and say why.
5. 5.Give time to revise in class, before any new mark goes in the book.

Step by step

1. 1. Read first, write second

   Do not comment on the first page as you read it. Patterns show up only when you see the whole piece, and half of your early comments will be repeated by the end.

2. 2. Limit yourself to two priorities

   A report with eleven comments tells the student that everything is wrong. Choose the issues that most change the quality of the work, and leave the rest for later drafts. Spelling slips can be a single line at the end.

3. 3. Turn each issue into an action

   "Your conclusion is weak" describes. "In your conclusion, quote your measured value and say whether it agrees with the prediction" tells the student what to do. A good test: could the student start the revision in the next minute?

4. 4. Say what is working

   Not praise for its own sake. Name the exact thing: "Your table has units in every column heading, keep doing that." Students then know what not to change.

5. 5. Build in revision time

   Give ten to fifteen minutes when the reports come back, with only revising allowed. Ask students to mark which comment they are addressing, so you can check it quickly.

Worked example: feedback on a pendulum lab report

A student timed a pendulum at two lengths and wrote this conclusion: "When I doubled the length, the period doubled. So the period is proportional to the length." The measurements were 2.0 s for a 1.00 m string and 2.8 s for a 2.00 m string. Here is why the conclusion does not hold, with the numbers checked.

For a simple pendulum at small angles, the period is T = 2π√(L/g). With g = 9.8 m/s², a 1.00 m pendulum gives T = 2π × √(1.00 / 9.8) = 2π × 0.319 = 2.01 s. A 2.00 m pendulum gives T = 2π × √(2.00 / 9.8) = 2π × 0.452 = 2.84 s. The ratio is 2.84 ÷ 2.01 = 1.41, which equals √2, not 2. The student's own data (2.8 ÷ 2.0 = 1.4) already shows this.

A comment that does not help

A comment a student can act on

The second comment names what to keep, gives a calculation the student can do in thirty seconds and ends with a rewrite. It does not give away the answer. After the revision, a good student will write something like "Doubling the length multiplied the period by about 1.4, so the period is not proportional to length." You then ask a follow-up for the next draft: what relationship would give a factor of 1.4 for a factor of 2? That is √2, and that is the hook for the next lesson.

If something goes wrong

• Students ignore the comments. Take the mark off the draft, or hand back the comments a day before the mark.
• Students make the minimum change. Ask them to write one sentence about what they changed and why.
• You have no time. Use a comment bank. Write the five issues you see most, number them and put numbers on the reports, with a short line for each student's own twist.
• A student is upset by comments. Open with the working item, and offer a short talk before the next draft.

Keep it going

Keep a running list of the issues you see across a class. If seven reports confuse proportional with increasing, that is a lesson, not seven comments. Rotate your focus between drafts so students are not always fixing the same area. A short exit ticket on the idea behind the comment can show whether the class understood it.

If you want to talk through a tricky piece of student work, DuckyHelper can be asked out loud with a key press and can see your screen. It is a sounding board, so keep the judgement and the final comment your own.