Abstract
Both instructors and students carry a responsibility to themselves and others for learning. As that responsibility transitions from the traditional classroom learning to online learning, identifying globally-recognized processes that support meaningful feedback takes on greater urgency. Adopting such processes first requires reflection upon elements that denote differences between feedback and meaningful feedback. Benefitting the community of educators and learners so that relevant societal contributions are possible requires that all efforts be addressed to ensure that meaningful feedback becomes as important an investment in the learning process as any other instructional practice.
Meaningful Feedback
Feedback from students to students as well as to and from the instructor requires additional attributes for online learning; feedback must be meaningful. This paper addresses the importance of meaningful feedback, the benefits of meaningful feedback for students, and strategies employable by instructors, which promote meaningful feedback. Already designed and yet-to-be-designed best practices for promoting students' growth and learning are rapidly changing, and feedback is a critical element within online learning's best practices. Students' as well as instructors' acknowledgement of the need to keep appraised of and use new feedback methods is essential in today's online learning environments' paradigms.
The Importance of Meaningful Feedback
A student's current and future yearning to learn, and attitude toward participating can be depressed if the instructor does not perceive that a student is experiencing alienation from the group and the material (Cochran, 2011). If the group frequently ignores students' forum postings, disconnection from the instructor and class may become evident, and takes extra time for the instructor to resolve. Addressing such an issue early or when it occurs provides a student with the tools needed to positively change the course of their participation and performance. Benfield
(2002) wrote that an instructor's critical responsibility related to providing meaningful feedback includes "identifying key issues that need to be addressed…and suggesting paths for further development" (p. 4).
At the beginning of a course, the Florida Gulf Coast University (2003) reminded online instructors that students must receive specific details about the instructor's schedule for replying to posts and submitting grades, and requirements for the students' postings and assignments. Such information is critically important in the online learning venues especially in the accelerated class structure. Online students can quickly become mired down by becoming confused and frustrated when the parameters for feedback are murky.
"Most online discussions consist of sharing and comparing information, with little evidence of critical analysis or higher order thinking" (Ertmer, et al., 2007, para 3). In Ertmer's (et al., 2007) study, using peer feedback to support the higher levels of thinking was tested. As students gave detailed and meaningful feedback to their peers on forum submissions, students increasingly grew and learned from the feedback because of co-constructed knowledge and improved understanding (Ertmer, et al., 2007). Meaningful feedback that is highly valuable and timely heightens cognitive engagement with the learning material and environment (Ertmer, et al., 2007). Furthermore, feedback mirrors a formative assessment, which is known to advance and hasten learning (Ertmer, et al., 2007).
Palloff and Pratt (2007) discussed that meaningful feedback for online students is a required skill, which must be "taught, modeled and encouraged" (p. 176) by instructors, and should be co-shared by learners. As learners become more adept at providing constructive feedback to each other, the experiences and knowledge of other learners provides mechanisms for learners to adopt and take advantage of to improve learning. By motivating students to "seek first to understand, and then be understood" (Palloff & Pratt, 2007, p. 179), the degree of interdependence between learners, and between learners and the instructor, which builds an online community, is supported. The commencement of deeper learning begins as learners' perceptions and exposure to new online global communities expands.
Benefits that Meaningful Feedback Offers Students
When an instructor uses a feedback strategy that promotes students to do self-assessments, encourages the reflection process, adds a high degree of value to students due to the instructor's quality of feedback content, promotes student achievement as performance goals become more attainable, and assists in motivating students, meaningful feedback is achieved (Biocchi, 2011). Beneficial results obtained from meaningful (and respectful) feedback include connecting students to the learning event, and enabling students to benefit from an instructor's (and students') knowledge, if the instructor (and community of students) frequently provide a high quality of feedback (Biocchi, 2011).
Research by Baran and Correia (2009) disclosed that designing online discussion activities first "requires a thorough learner and needs analysis designing the online activities to target learners’ needs, expectations, and constraints" (p. 358). By providing feedback to students post-analysis, a wealth of information can inform and encourage students to reflect upon their strengths and weaknesses. When instructors are informed prior to a class' beginning of students' strengths and weaknesses, customization of a course's content can result in empowering students to learn (Baran & Correia, 2009).
Benefits to meaningful feedback aids in validating online instructors' competence, and enables instructors to modify online teaching methods (Anderson & Standerford, 2011). Increasing competence benefits instructors by enabling greater effectiveness and improved satisfaction. "Gathering and analyzing feedback from students online informs" (Anderson & Standerford, 2011, p. 6) instructors' practices. As instructors focus more efforts on assessing and using online tools, more meaningful feedback can be delivered in various ways. More efforts result in a higher time commitment but using meaningful feedback improves the instructor's ability to use the best available tools for feedback to students (Anderson & Standerford, 2011). Using those tools to create new paradigms results in replacing the extra time commitment with better teaching solutions. Furthermore, instructors soliciting feedback from peers improves the potential for using improved teaching solutions.
Strategies for Promoting Meaningful Feedback in Online Discussions
Biocchi (2011) wrote that countering students' hesitations to participate can be achieved by providing feedback, which is not only positive but also contributes to a discussion. An instructor can motivate and encourage students by privately sending each student a note customized to the student's character and performance at an opportunistic time during the course (Biocchi, 2011). An instructor can remind students about high standards and performance expectations by showing attention to thoughtful postings or by making vital observations (Benfield, 2002).
Ertmer (et al., 2007) reported that improving feedback's effectiveness requires a strategy that involves feedback elements that are "diagnostic and prescriptive, formative and iterative, and involving both peers and group assessment" (para 7). Instructors have realized such improved effectiveness by giving "prompt, timely, and thorough" (Ertmer, et al., 2007) feedback reflecting the quality of online discussions and grades. Such feedback should be "constructive, supportive, substantive, specific, objective, individual, and consistent" (Ertmer, et al., 2007, para 7).
Using e-mail messages, chat room conversations, and discussion board postings provides instructors with a vehicle to evaluate whether feedback, which is a component of online assessment, from learning events is producing the desired learning outcomes (Gaytan, & McEwen, 2007). Targeting the learning outcomes by designing and communicating a specific rubric is invaluable to the online learning process. After instructors provide timely feedback to learners via relevant assessments based upon the rubric, the instructor should monitor whether feedback was understood and used by learners to increase performance.
Conclusion
Feedback from students to students as well as to and from the instructor requires additional attributes for online learning; feedback must be meaningful. This paper addressed the importance of meaningful feedback, the benefits of meaningful feedback for students, and strategies employable by instructors, which promote meaningful feedback. Best practices for promoting students' growth and learning are rapidly changing. Students' as well as instructors' acknowledgement of the need to keep appraised of and use new feedback methods is essential in today's online learning environments' paradigms.
References:
Anderson, D., Imdieke, S., & Standerford, N. (2011, January). Feedback please: Studying self in the online classroom. International Journal of Instruction, 4(1), 3-16. Retrieved from http://www.e-iji.net/dosyalar/iji_2011_1_1.pdf
Baran, E., & Correia, A. (2009, November). Student-led facilitation strategies in online discussions. Distance Education, 30(3), 339-361. Retrieved from http://www.public.iastate.edu/~acorreia/Student-led%20facilitation%20strategies.pdf
Benfield, G. (2002). Designing and managing effective online discussions. Retrieved from http://www.brookes.ac.uk/services/ocsld/resources/briefing_papers/
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Cochran, S. (2011, June). How to give effective online class feedback, online class feedback and constructive criticism. Retrieved from http://www.brighthub.com/education/online-learning/articles/35429.aspx
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Gaytan, J., & McEwen, B. (2007). Effective online instructional and assessment strategies. The American Journal Of Distance Education, 21(3), 117–132. Retrieved from http://edtech.boisestate.edu/elearn/assessment.pdf
M. Biocchi. (2011). Giving meaningful feedback. [Web log comment]. Retrieved from http://educationtech.ca/2011/07/22/giving-meaningful-feedback/
Palloff, R.M., & Pratt, K. (2007). Building online learning communities: Effective strategies for the virtual classroom. San Francisco, California: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
