In this activity, students learn how to actively use general, overarching feedback from a teacher for their own learning process. Instead of receiving feedback passively, students select what is relevant to them and translate it into concrete action points.
By exchanging ideas with fellow students, they discover different interpretations of the same feedback and refine their own improvement strategies.
- Activity goal
- Assess | Practice skills | Reflect
- When
- In class
- Where
- Offline
- Duration
- < 30 minutes| < 60 minutes
- Group size
- Small | Medium | Large
Step-by-step plan
Step 1: Analysis by the teacher
The teacher analyses student work in advance and identifies recurring patterns in the feedback. These are grouped into a limited number of overarching themes that form the core of the feedback:
- Recurring strengths
- Common areas for improvement
- Clustering into 3-6 feedback themes
Step 2: Feedback presentation
The teacher explains the feedback to the whole class, using different presentation methods. In addition to a verbal explanation, key points are visually supported, for example with slides or annotated examples of student work. Where possible, an explicit link is made to the rubric, so it is clear which assessment criteria the feedback relates to.
Step 3: Individual selection of feedback
Students analyse the presented feedback in relation to their own work and the rubric using a worksheet. They determine which feedback points are relevant to their own product by comparing them to the assessment criteria and their own interpretation of the work. They then select two to four feedback points that are most applicable to them and briefly explain their choices.
Step 4: Translation into action points
For each selected feedback point, students formulate a concrete action point. This includes not only what needs to be improved, but also how it will be addressed and when an improvement can be considered successful.
Step 5: Peer interaction in small groups
Students discuss their selected feedback and formulated action points in small groups. During these conversations, peers ask probing questions and offer suggestions to make the action points more concrete and feasible. The goal of this phase is to sharpen the quality of the formulated improvement actions.
Step 6: Walk & prioritise
Students move around the room and compare their action points with those of others. They look not only at differences in chosen feedback points, but also at how others have prioritised and justified their improvement points. Based on this comparison, students reconsider their own prioritisation. Relevance to their own work, the expected impact on the final product, and the feasibility of implementation play a central role. This results in a prioritised list of two to three action points per student.
Step 7: Plenary reflection
Several students share their final prioritisation and explain whether and why it has changed after comparing with peers. The teacher concludes the activity with a brief reflection on effective ways to translate feedback into concrete improvement actions.
Consider the tools and materials mentioned here as suggestions. In many cases it’s possible to use alternative tools. Please turn to the Learning & Innovation team of your faculty first to see which online and offline tools are available and how to apply them.
Offline
- Table for feedback points and action points
Tip 1
- Have students create a poster with their action points. Students then rotate around the posters and give each other tips for additional action points. Also consult the teaching activity gallery walk.
Tip 2
- As a teacher, formulate feedback as concretely as possible. This can be done by, for example, always referring to the rubric and the criteria that fall under it.
Tip 3
- Have students make a list of what they need to process the feedback, such as consulting sources or receiving additional explanations. Also consult the teaching activity shopping list.
Tip 4
- For creating the action plan, you can have students use a '3-2-1' format. For example, they formulate three concrete action points based on the feedback received, of which two are concrete follow-up steps that translate the action point into direct behaviour or execution, and one is a specific support need (such as additional explanation, feedback, or resources). Also consult the teaching activity 3-2-1 reflection.
