Welcome to the last day of Five Days of Feedback!

Last year, the University's NSS Assessment and Feedback Expert Group identified the 5 qualities of good feedback.

We will be using these qualities as part of our Five days of feedback event in the week commencing 11th December. Every day, we will share case studies and top tips focusing on each of these qualities of good feedback in turn by email, on X and on LinkedIn.

The theme of today’s ‘5 days of feedback’ event is Kind. 

Avoid using judgemental language (e.g. 'poor spelling and structure'), focusing on objective comments instead (e.g. 'unclear spelling and structure'). And remember, don't be... like the rude, vague, smug, petty and disrespectful 'Reviewer 2' meme on social media. 

Top tips for writing kind feedback 

• Remember that being kind and being nice aren’t the same thing – compliments without rationale are not useful; focus on being respectful, honest and purposeful instead 
• Acknowledge efforts to address previous feedback – this helps students focus on learning goals 
• Be aware of the impact your feedback has on motivation – aim to help students develop a growth mindset  
• Remember the power of “yet” - help your students manage feelings of failure by encouraging them to focus on turning “I can’t...” into “I can’t … yet” 

What does kind feedback look like to students? 

We asked our Student Experience Officers and Graduate Business Partners what kind feedback looked like to them as a student. They said:  

‘Ensuring there is always a level of positivity - needs to be a good balance between what went well and areas of improvement. Receiving feedback that is entirely negative is discouraging and can put you in the wrong mindset for future assignments.’  

Additional resources: 

• QAA Scotland’s research on student-friendly feedback 
• Carol Dweck’s TED talk on the power of believing you can improve 

Don’t forget to add your good feedback practice to our Padlet!