At yesterday’s Advanced Teaching Workshop, TAs generated this list of specific techniques for giving feedback … choose one and try it today to enhance your teaching practice!
– Give a whole block of compliments!
– Ask questions rather than making blanket statements; strike a balance between praise and points of criticism.
– ALWAYS begin with a positive, and be encouraging in tone!
– Reinforce the areas where the writing made you feel and connect, and share the student’s passion for their story!
– Pose questions to make the student consider their craft options and narrative structure.
– Highlight what the student did very well.
– Figure out which # / # corresponds to which percentage grade before you start marking.
– Focus on a few specific issues.
– Try to give both broad strokes and specific examples of areas for improvement.
– Calibrate by figuring out the rough range of grades before going into depth with feedback. Also, when possible, get together with other TAs from the same course to mark as a group.
– Limit to three constructive comments.
– Keep a comment bank, and also include specific references to the student’s work.
– Sort and mark similar assignments together (all short fiction, all poetry, etc.).