Top inclusive teaching tips: giving effective feedback
Welcome to the first Top Inclusive Teaching Tips, our new series designed to further inspire and motivate Deakin’s already remarkable teaching staff. We know you’re busy, so let’s get to it!
1. Multiple formats and tools
Did you know you can cater for diverse learners by providing feedback in either written form or as audio or video commentary? As well as using a rubric, multimedia tools offer a great opportunity to connect with your students by helping personalise their learning experience. For easy to follow instructions on how to leave feedback in multiple formats in CloudDeakin, go to Leave feedback and grading submissions.
2. Be constructive, fair and equitable
Students can only improve if they receive positive, clear and specific guidance. Rather than making general statements such as ‘more detail needed’, state exactly what you would like changed. Generating your own phrase-bank is a helpful and convenient way to ensure feedback is fair, equitable and consistent. Here is an example of a feedback phrase-bank.
3. Plain, clear, accessible and inclusive language
When clarifying learning objectives, expectations, instructions and processes to students, use clear plain English that can accommodate differing language capacities and levels. Be careful not to use sociocultural or gender-biased stereotypes and examples.
4. Timely and frequent
A little and often is the motto, as providing prompt and regular feedback that closely follows the assessment task or learning activity helps everyone stay on course.
5. Student support services
You can’t do everything, but you can direct students requiring academic skills assistance or other help to appropriate services such as Study Support and Library Help. Go to our guides to Student Life and Academic and Peer Support to see some of the amazing services you can access at Deakin.
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Want to know more?
Check out our comprehensive ICCB Inclusive Teaching Toolkit for more helpful tips and strategies on how to give effective and inclusive feedback.
References
Hadley, P 2014, Feedback word cloud image, retrieved 21 August 2017, (CC BY-SA 3.0).
Rowe, A, Muchatuta, M & Wood, LN 2010, Inclusive practice in higher education: feedback that breaks pedagogical barriers’, in (eds) N Riseman, S Rechter & E Warne, Learning, teaching and social justice in higher education, University of Melbourne and Australian Catholic University, Melbourne, retrieved 3 May 2017.
