Feedback is intimidating. For us (SRIs, anyone?) and for our students. As Brené Brown relates in a 2010 TedTalk on vulnerability, “You know that situation where you get an evaluation from your boss, and she tells you 37 things you do really awesome and one ‘opportunity for growth’? And all you can think about is that opportunity for growth...” In an effort to combat this feeling, I’ve incorporated audio feedback in my pedagogical toolbelt.

As an assistant professor in the English Dept., I teach our GE composition courses as well as several creative writing classes. This means I read a lot of papers and write a lot of feedback, which takes quite a bit of time. This also means my students often feel vulnerable: my composition students tend to lack confidence, and in creative writing, sharing your art is akin to sharing your soul.

Audio feedback feels more personal; I can use an encouraging tone of voice that written feedback just can’t convey the same way. And it saves my hands from the carpal tunnel I fear is coming!

 

I don’t use it for every assignment. Here are some instances I find it most useful:

• Early in the semester in online classes to establish social presence, build rapport and connection, and to set the tone.
• To provide feedback on assignments where you’re focusing on big picture or “global” concerns, like early drafts of papers.
• At the very end of the semester when my creative writers are turning in final revisions, and I’m not focusing on sentence-level concerns but on their own meta reflection.

I also have learned a few things from experimenting with it over the years about how to make the most out of this particular modality of feedback. Here are my recommended dos and don’ts:

• Do greet the student by name at the start.
• I like to begin with something such as: Hi [insert student name], welcome to audio feedback.
• Do follow a consistent structure. (Best practices of feedback still apply!)
• I usually begin with a greeting, provide a brief explanation of how the feedback is organized (first, I’ll do... then, I’ll...);
• summarize how I viewed the student work (slanted as positive!);
• praise 1-2 specific strengths;
• identify 1-2 specific suggestions for how to continue working on the piece (which can include building on earlier identified strengths);
• I end with a final encouragement, emphasizing the potential and my interest in supporting the student and their work.
• Do use an enthusiastic tone to show your engagement with the student’s work!
• Don’t “let perfect be the enemy of good.”
• Record once; pauses, stutters are all fine—they’re human and relatable.
• Don’t draw out the length of recordings.
• My feedback averages between 3-6 min.
• Some factors that influence how long my feedback are: 1) is the feedback formative or summative? 2) is the assignment major or minor? 3) has the student asked me to address specific things—or indicated that they would value longer feedback?

And you certainly don’t have to do it my way! By my definition, “good” feedback is feedback that motivates and empowers students in their learning. I encourage you to play around with this and learn what works best for you and your students. I’d love to hear your approaches and collaborate on devising new ways to continue to improve my feedback. For example, I’m currently brainstorming how I might provide video feedback where the video shows the student’s paper on my screen (not a headshot of me talking!).