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Student Resources

Constructive Feedback

While learning new ideas and concepts we greatly benefit from feedback. Since learning is a social process, we experience different perspectives on the same topic when we talk to peer learners, instructors, or others. Feedback is effective when it is constructive. Please follow the tips to help each other learn online.

Tips to Give Constructive Feedback

  • Address facts, not the person. Give feedback on the content of a statement and concentrate on the hard facts, not what you read between the lines.
  • Start with a positive comment. Create an open atmosphere for feedback by mentioning aspects you like or agree with first before pointing out opposite arguments. Highlight the strengths of a person’s thought.
  • Express your impression. Describe what you feel and experience about a person’s argument rather than stating it as a fact. An example is, “My impression is that you covered poverty from an economic standpoint, but how does it look when considering it from a global perspective?”
  • Be specific. Instead of saying “I agree,” express why you like a statement, such as “I agree that poverty doesn’t only exist in the country, because we see it in the slums of the big cities as well.”

Tips to Receive Feedback

  • Listen carefully to feedback. Learn about how others in your online class perceive your ideas and perspectives on study topics, for example, in online discussion threads or your term paper.
  • Ask clarifying questions. Make sure that you understand what the other person wants to tell you about your ideas and your work.
  • Reflect on the reliability. Interpret how appropriate the feedback is for your learning. If you are unsure how the feedback applies to your work, ask others to determine the reliability of the feedback.
  • Integrate important learning. After deciding that the received feedback applies, integrate it into your learning.
  • Acknowledge feedback from others. Be open to feedback from others. Thank them for their observations, and let them know how the feedback helped you with your learning process.