Extracted from: David Boud, (1997) Enhancing learning through Self Assessment, Kogan Page, London. Chapter 16
Everyone has the capacity for giving useful feedback and some people use it to more effect than others. The skills of giving and receiving feedback can be developed if attention is given to some of the attributes of worthwhile feedback and how it can be given so that its contribution to learning can be enhanced.
To bother to give another person positive suggestions about their work indicates both that you care enough about them to spend your time considering their work and that their work is worthy of your attention. You are both affirming the worth of the person and offering them your views on something into which they have put some effort.
The desirable characteristics of peer feedback are no different from those of any other type of feedback from others, including from teachers. In general such feedback is specific, descriptive predominantly non judgmental in tone and form, directed towards the goals of the person receiving it and well times. Helpful feedback makes a conscious distinction between the person, who is always valued and the particular acts or specific work which may be subject to critical comment.
Before looking in detail at useful feedback it is important to distinguish it from those types of feedback which can be unhelpful and sometimes positively harmful.
We all know what it is like to be on the receiving end of bad feedback: we feel
'got at', 'attacked'. 'put down', 'damned' and generally invalidated as a person. Some of the basic characteristics of bad feedback are that it is directed globally at the person; it is unhelpful, that is, it does not suggest what otherwise might be; it is ill-judged, it comes from the needs of the critic rather than the needs of the person receiving it; and it can provide a weight of destructive comment from which it is difficult for a person to surface: it is dehumanizing.
Useful feedback, on the other hand, affirms the worth of the person and gives support whilst offering reactions to the object of attention. Thus the person providing the feedback shows that he or she values the person who is receiving it and that the provider is sensitive to their needs and goals. This does not mean that only praise should be given, but that any critical matters should be raised in an overall supportive context in which the parties can trust one another.
In the discussion below the term 'work' or 'contribution' is used to describe the matter on which feedback is given. This 'work' may be of any type: an essay, a class contribution, a design, a project in any form: written, oral, graphic, etc.
There are many characteristics of worthwhile feedback but the most important is the way in which it is given. The tone, the style and the content should be consistent and provide the constant message: 'I appreciate you and what you have done and whatever else I say should be taken in this context". If you wish to give helpful feedback, you should:
Be realistic. Direct your comments towards matters about which the person can do something. Don't make suggestions which are entirely outside the scope of the matters at hand.
Be specific. Generalizations are particularly unhelpful. The person should be given sufficient information to pinpoint the areas to which you are referring and have a clear idea of what is being said about those specific areas.
Be sensitive to the goals of the person. Just because the other person's contributions have not met your goals doesn't necessarily imply that something is wrong. The person produced the work for a specific purpose and you should be aware of that purpose and give your views accordingly. This is not to say that you can't make comments from your own perspective but that you should be clear when you offer views in terms of your own goals and you should say that is what you are doing. Link your comments to their intentions; listen carefully to what they have to say.
Be timely. Time your comments well. It is no use offering feedback after the person receiving it has put the work aside and moved on to other things. Respond promptly when your feedback is requested: to be effective feedback must be well-timed.
Be descriptive.Describe your views. Don't say what you think the person should feel. Don't be emotionally manipulative: you are offering your considered, rational views which should have the characteristics described here; it is up to the other person to accept or reject them as he or she sees fit.
Be consciously non-judgemental. Offer your personal view, do not act as an authority even if you may be one elsewhere. Give your personal reactions and feelings rather than value laden statements. One way of doing this is to use comments of the type, I feel ... when you ...;
Be diligent. Check your response. Is it an accurate reflection of what you want to express? Have you perceived the contribution accurately. There is nothing more annoying than to receive criticism from someone who clearly hasn't bothered to pay attention to what you have done.
Be direct. Say what you mean. Don't wrap it up in circumlocution, fancy words or abstract language.
There is no point in asking others to give you feedback unless you are prepared to be open to it and to consider comments which differ from your own perceptions. As receiver:
Be explicit. Make it clear what kind of feedback you are seeking. If necessary indicate what kinds you do not want to receive. The feedback from others is entirely for your benefit and if you do not indicate what you want you are unlikely to get it.
Be aware. Notice your own reactions, both intellectual and emotional. Particularly notice any reactions of rejection or censorship on your part. If the viewpoint from which the other is speaking is at variance with your own do not dismiss it: it can be important to realize the misapprehensions of others. Some people find it useful to partially dissociate or distance themselves in this situation and act as if they were witnessing feedback being given to someone else.
Be silent. Refrain from making a response. Don't even begin to frame a response in your own mind until you have listened carefully to what has been said and have considered the implications. Don't be distracted by the need to explain: if you really need to give an explanation do it later after the feedback session.
There is no difference in principle between feedback given in written form and that in person. However, with written feedback there is normally no opportunity to resolve misunderstandings and it is necessary to be very explicit in specifying what types of feedback are desired and in formulating responses. In the written form more attention needs to be given to tone and style than would usually be the case in person.