How to ensure students engage with your feedback
Giving feedback is one of the most powerful tools we have as educators, but also one of the most complex. We spend hours crafting thoughtful comments, yet too often students skim through them, focus only on the grade, or never revisit them at all.
So how can we move from feedback given to feedback used?
Research in feedback literacy suggests that effective engagement depends on three key conditions:
1️⃣ Students must understand what the feedback means.
2️⃣ They must value the feedback and see its relevance to their learning.
3️⃣ They must know how to act on it.

Before creating groups for a new project, I have students rate themselves (1-4) on what skillset they will bring to a group. I provide a short list of skills (eg: researcher, leader, script writer, public speaker, technology). Then I create balanced groups that each have a leader, a confident speaker, a tech person etc. Once the groups are established, they meet and create their own research questions and deadlines. Choice + autonomy = intrinsic motivation.