Creating Continuous Feedback Loops to Support Online Learners

Time to read: 7 minutes

Most teachers intuitively know that giving student feedback is essential to the learning process. In previous posts, we’ve even mentioned the importance of student and instructor interactions, online communication, and creating a class where students receive feedback and are poised to provide it. However, if the feedback we provide doesn’t inform their performance and our practice, their success and our own could be jeopardized.

In my classroom, the Learning Management System (LMS) can quickly provide a vehicle for all sorts of feedback - automatic grading on multiple choice quiz questions, peer review pairings for student-to-student critiques, and a whole host of inline editing tools to add comments, video clips, and even grammar suggestions with the click of a button.

Then why, oh, why does it feel like providing feedback is so tricky, cumbersome, and under-appreciated?! 😩

If the main goal in providing feedback is to help students take a step forward with their learning, then the bulk of my feedback should really focus on what the student has done well.

However, if I wait too long in the grading process to provide feedback, we miss the opportune moment for students to act on it, and if that’s the case, what’s the point of offering it?! (I say while wringing my hands in frustration!)

I’ve realized that feedback requires a lot more skill and intentionality than a routine gradebook to-do item. It demands that I be diligent and attentive toward what deserves my time and attention and awareness of the best time to deliver feedback to students so they can view it, use it and expand upon it.

Let’s take, for instance, my latest video lecture on message design. If I chunk that into two 15-minute segments, I can embed a video quiz in each segment without causing too much cognitive overload or taxing memorization on behalf of the student.

The feedback loops for this activity look like this:

Feedback on Student Learning

When it comes to student learning, I’m interested in reviewing how many students completed this assignment on the first try, how many times the video lecture was watched and if the students answered the questions correctly.

• For concepts that they understood - I ask students to share with the class examples or techniques that helped clarify the material and, in doing so, close the feedback loop on correct concepts and interpretations.

• For concepts that students misunderstood - I need to consider how I will reteach this concept by offering supplemental material or revising the assessment to close the feedback loop on missed items.

Feedback to Students on Learning

Students should be able to quickly tell if they understood and can apply concepts from the lecture based on immediate quiz feedback. They also can rewind, fast forward, and rewatch the lecture. These simple grading techniques may close a feedback loop, but I can do better. Diving deeper into feedback means being prepared to share more with students after each assignment or assessment.

To make easier work of this task, I usually take a list of key concepts from class and write out one or two summary paragraphs to share with ALL students that align with the rubric. In doing so, I’m reminding students of things we reviewed in class and using this short narrative as the launching pad to point out ways they matched, enhanced, or missed these items in their assignment or assessment. In writing these summaries, I often consider what students need to learn from this project and the most important things they need feedback on to advance toward the goal.

If students know where they’re headed from the start, a clear, concise learning objective serves as a reference point for both of us when offering students feedback.

Sometimes I’ve even forewarned students ahead of the assignment due date that I would be looking for a specific skill or item while grading. 

Since my classroom is full of diverse learners, I always aim to balance challenge and support. Additionally, I try to provide genuine praise for a job well done with more than just “nice job” or “good point,” reminding students that “done” and “due” are two different things. We are rarely ‘done’ with the learning surrounding an assignment, but it does come ‘due’ — and there lies continuous improvement, one of my classroom's most robust feedback loops.

Asking students to reflect on their learning can challenge students to think of alternate outcomes, skills, and practical ways to reconsider their work long after the due date has passed.

Feedback About Student Learning

What better way to manage due dates and assignments than to learn how to use the reporting features in the LMS? This feedback loop is the most technical in terms of course design. The LMS can report on quiz details such as time on task, if the students could navigate to the materials correctly, and if anyone stopped or started the video more than once. Using these details as my guide, I can determine the most challenging questions, which material segments may need further explanation, and if I need to make any system-based navigational adjustments to course materials. Acting on both the data and the gaps closes the feedback loop for this category. 

But what about assignments that don’t warrant immediate feedback- like my final project or essay? Those assignments tend to use feedback spirals vs. loops. The spiral is more developmental and indicates several iterations of feedback are provided through multiple means (peer review, plagiarism checker, and 1st draft grading, to name a few) before any final feedback is given. This type of feedback changes how I grade the final assignment. Final grading becomes more about “complete/incomplete” steps and follow-through than the detailed feedback leading up to the last due date on key class concepts, word choice, project direction, and purpose.

Final Thoughts

For any feedback process to be successful, instructors and students need to be involved in making sense of the information provided and engaged with how the LMS can assist in the process. Acting on feedback is a key part of continuous improvement and makes the learning strategy for using feedback loops and spirals worthwhile. Our role as facilitators of learning is critical in helping shape how feedback is used to enhance our teaching, support students, and create seamless course designs. Through feedback loops and spirals, everyone in the class can take an active role in self-regulation, reflecting and acting on the feedback for each assignment - myself included!

Wait, There’s More!

It can be hard to find the right balance between giving positive feedback and providing constructive comments. Incorporating these action words can clarify students' next steps.

Download this FREE list of action words to help track progress and keep students accountable for what they should keep doing and what needs improvement.