As we continue to navigate through the new normal of distance learning and remote assessment, it is crucial that we understand and adapt our feedback strategies based on the assessment types and learning styles of our students. Providing effective feedback is a critical aspect of supporting student learning and is becoming even more important in the current virtual learning environment. In this blog post, I will explore feedback strategies that can be adapted for different assessment types and learning styles, and provide tips and tricks to make your feedback more effective. Let’s dive in!

Understanding Assessment Types and Feedback Strategies

There are different types of assessments, such as formative assessments, summative assessments, diagnostic assessments, and alternative assessments. Formative assessments are quizzes, tests, or exams that are conducted throughout the learning process to track students’ progress and offer immediate feedback. Summative assessments evaluate the overall performance of students at the end of a course or term. Diagnostic assessments help teachers identify students’ learning gaps and customize their instruction to fill these gaps. Alternative assessments are creative assessments that check students’ understanding by employing activities like projects, presentations, and performances.

Formative Assessments

Formative assessments can help students identify areas of weakness and strengths, guiding them to perform better on summative assessments. Feedback in this type of assessment should be timely and specific. Feedback given early and frequently will help the students identify errors and address them quickly. Constructive feedback can help students progress by understanding their mistakes.

Timely Feedback

When providing feedback on formative assessments, it is essential to provide timely feedback. Depending on the frequency of formative assessments used in a course, feedback minutes make a difference. Teachers should make it easy to get feedback and set an appropriate time frame for the students to correct their mistakes and revise their work.

A teacher handing papers back to students while pointing at a particular paper in a classroom

Summative Assessments

Summative assessments are designed to evaluate students’ cumulative knowledge and skills. Feedback provided in this type of assessment should be evaluative. There should be norms-based feedback to compare the students’ performance with their peers.

Norms-based Feedback

Norms-based feedback compares the student’s performance with their peers. It helps the student understand where they stand and how much they need to improve. It is a good motivator for students who do well, but it can be made difficult for students who don’t. It may help to sequence the feedback to make it clearer.

Students receiving their report cards during a school assembly.

Diagnostic Assessments

Diagnostic assessments help teachers identify a student’s strengths and weaknesses and customize their instruction to fill learning gaps. Feedback in this type of assessment should be instructive. It should provide helpful information on how to improve the student’s performance.

Instructive Feedback

Instructive feedback provides students with a comprehensive understanding of their strengths and weaknesses. It can include explicit strategies and learning activities that target specific skills in the areas where students need the most help. It is not just informative but also instructive and helps a student improve their performance.

A teacher in a one-on-one session with a student, assessing their academic performance

Alternative Assessments

Alternative assessments are creative assessments that check students’ understanding by employing activities like projects, presentations, and performances. Feedback provided in this type of assessment should be descriptive. Descriptive feedback describes the student’s level of understanding or how well a particular project or activity was done.

Descriptive Feedback

Descriptive feedback describes a student’s level of understanding or how well they have completed a particular project. It should be based on the ways students have performed and how they can enhance their performance. Descriptive feedback can be given in various forms, including rubrics, annotations, or individual comments.

Students designing a poster for a science exhibition with their teacher guiding them

Understanding Learning Styles and Feedback Strategies

There are different learning styles students possess, such as visual, auditory, kinesthetic, and reading/writing. It is crucial to understand a student’s learning style and adapt feedback strategies accordingly.

Visual Learners

Visual learners comprehend concepts and ideas better through visual aids like graphs, charts, diagrams, and videos. Feedback for visual learners should include visuals demonstrating how to enhance their performance.

Visual Feedback

Visual feedback can help visual learners understand concepts and ideas better. It can contain graphs, charts, and videos that demonstrate how to improve their performance. Visual feedback should also have annotations or follow-ups that explain the visuals.

A teacher pointing at a chart during a lesson, surrounded by students listening attentively

Auditory Learners

Auditory learners understand concepts and ideas better through verbal explanations and oral presentations. Feedback for auditory learners should be descriptive and audible.

Audible Feedback

Audible feedback can help auditory learners understand and implement changes required to improve their learning. It can consist of personal feedback or explanation of the progress made. It should also be engaging and interactive to keep the students interested.

A teacher explaining concepts to a group of students through verbal explanations in a classroom

Kinesthetic Learners

Kinesthetic learners understand better through physical activity and hands-on experience. Feedback for kinesthetic learners should encourage experimentation and hands-on activity.

Hands-on Feedback

Feedback for kinesthetic learners must be based on hands-on experience that focuses on the experimentation. The feedback should encourage curiosity and exploration of new ideas.

Students conducting an experiment in a science lab, with their teacher observing and providing feedback

Reading/Writing Learners

Reading/writing learners understand concepts and ideas better through reading and assimilating notes. Feedback for reading/writing learners should include written and detailed feedback.

Detailed Feedback

Feedback for reading/writing learners should be detailed and written. It should include annotations, suggestions, and follow-ups to help these learners improve their performance. Written feedback could be in different forms such as comments, notes, or rubrics.

A student sitting at a desk, receiving feedback from their teacher in the form of written comments on their work

Final Thoughts

Adapting feedback strategies based on assessment types and learning styles is a critical aspect of effective teaching. In addition to the feedback strategies mentioned here, teachers can also use technology to give feedback. Voice notes, comments in comment boxes, and videos can be used to deliver feedback to students. Regardless of the feedback strategy used, feedback should be given consistently, early, and often. Effective feedback helps students improve and develop a growth mindset to deal with academic challenges. What are some feedback strategies that you have used or are planning to use in the future?

A teacher standing in front of a whiteboard with "Effective Feedback" written on it, while students sit at their desks and take notes