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Giving Feedback

Here are some good ideas for your use in tutoring sessions from "Feedback: Enhancing the Performance of Adult Learners with Learning Disabilities" by Adrienne Riviere, printed by the National Institute for Literacy.

Feedback is the mechanism through which the instructor relates to the learner how things are going in the learning process. Learners need this information to understand what they are doing effectively and what behaviors they need to change and improve. Feedback also serves as a source of motivation in that it lets learners evaluate their progress, understand their level of competence, and maintain their efforts to reach realistic goals.

Several techniques can be used to make feedback more effective.

First, establish clear criteria for mastery in an area. The more specific the expectations, the more likely students will meet them the first time around.

Second, give frequent feedback in the form of a smile, a nod, and an encouraging word. A reminder before beginning each task helps a student be aware of responses to avoid and develop independence by transforming feedback into improved performance. Computers do this by provoking a constant back-and-forth "dialogue" with the learner that gives the learner a strong sense of active control in the learning process.

Help your student recognize that he/she alone is responsible for any accomplishments. Students should also realize that making errors is part of the learning process and understand the role their efforts play in achieving success.

Feedback should be positive emphasizing improvements, progress, and correctness rather than deficiencies and errors. Even if the student's performance is not strong, positive feedback can communicate the instructor's recognition of sincere effort and belief that improvement can be made over time. ...

Feedback should be specific with suggested corrective procedures that can be implemented immediately. Sometimes the best form of feedback is just allowing learners to progress to the next challenge after successfully performing the prior task.

Be sure to ask your student for feedback! Tutors need to know what was difficult or unexpected in lessons, what was successful, what was interesting. Being responsive to your student's needs is a critical part of successful tutoring.