When Feedback Matters
When is the last time you give feedback to your students? Is it positive or negative? We often think that positive feedback does little to encourage and improve learners' engagement in the process. Little do we know that it worked and may increase learning outcomes if done effectively. Wiggins (1998) pointed out that feedback is only effective when it is timely, specific, understandable, and actionable. Here how it works: 1. Feedback should be timely given, rightly after an activity, assignment, or task. 2. Feedback should be clear and specific on what has been done correctly or improved further. 3. Feedback should be within the learners' level of understanding that they can comprehend it on their own. 4. Feedback should be results-oriented; it must motivate learners to do actions they need to perform. It is better if the feedback is process-oriented than students' personality-oriented. In that sense, learners can focus on completing a learning task rather than focusing o