Book Club Reflection: Using Feedback to Improve Learning

November 02, 2021 / Denise Allen, OTD, OT/L, CHT

Using Feedback to Improve Learning by Maria Araceli Ruiz-Primo and Susan M. Brookhart provides “another perspective of how to better engage students using feedback and to push their thinking to the next level” (book club attendee). The book provides a framework for examining what feedback is and can do that goes beyond oral and written comments on student assignments. It includes using feedback to help modify teaching and learning activities and looks at the effectiveness of different kinds of feedback.

Some takeaways from book club attendees include:

Feedback needs to help students “not only learn what they did wrong, but feedback on what they did right..which is often not given”
Students can take feedback differently, so varying feedback can be important based on student needs.
Reflection is an important part of feedback to help the students learn. They need to reflect on how this information applies to their life (which can be facilitated by the instructor) and to assess how they are learning and what areas need more attention
Reflection is also important for the instructors to make adjustments to teaching based on feedback they get from formative assessments
It is important to connect feedback to course/lesson goals and make clear the purpose of each lesson/module and the connection to course objectives and overall student goals
Mid-term is a good time to have students review course goals and ask where they need to go and how they can get their- incorporating them into the learning process.