Examples of global positive feedback

Global positive feedback provides encouragement on the whole piece of writing.

• "Great essay!"
• "I enjoyed reading this very much"
• "Nice piece of work!"
• "Good treatment of topic."
• "Great argument."
• "Well argued."

Examples of positive specific feedback

Specific positive feedback provides encouragement and focus on specific skills.

• "I liked the way you have described..."
• "You have some well formed paragraphs here – good work."
• "Although I have made lots of small corrections, overall your report is well structured."
• "I liked the way you have described..."
• "You show a good understanding of the theory."
• "This was a well structured essay so I found it very easy to read."
• "You have organised the content well with good examples which support your point of view."

Examples of global feedback on errors

Some issues to consider with the following examples of feedback:

• Can the students identify what you are asking them to correct? (eg, formal language, structure)
• Do they know how to do what you are asking them? (eg, use less detail, make more general)

Unhelpful global feedback:

• "Use more formal language".
• "Try and improve your sentence structure".
• "Too much detail".
• "Too general".

Consider the sample essays in the Language and Learning Online site. The expanded comments are usually clearer than the brief notes.

The feedback below provides more detail.

• "You have failed to provide any statement on the scope of the essay in the introduction."
• "It was not clear when you were contrasting theory x and theory y. Try and use 'contrasting' words, such as 'In contrast', 'on the other hand', 'however', etc."
• "There are several contradictions in your essay."
• "Your thesis statement is not followed through or supported."
• "There needs to be more signposting throughout the essay to guide the reader (eg, firstly, secondly, therefore, etc)."
• "Your counter-argument is not well introduced so the reader does not know when you begin to describe the other side of the issue."
• "You need to support your point of view with references from the literature, data etc."
• "Unreferenced material – plagiarism."
• "This essay shows that you have not read widely on the topic. You have made a lot of general statements and not offered any specific examples."
• "Absence of your own voice explicating readings etc."
• "You don't seem to have understood the question."
• "You haven't answered the question."
• "Your writing relies too much on the literature and there is little evidence of your own understanding."
• "Lack of coherence between sections of text."

Types of point specific feedback on errors

To give specific feedback on errors you can rework the student's writing, or correct by highlighting or explaining.

Student writing: The politicians claims that …

Rework

Will the student learn from this?

Sample correction: The politicians claim that …

Correct

Highlight

Will the student understand the problem?

Sample correction: The politicians claim that …

Explain

Have you got the knowledge and time to explain this error - is this an error several students make?

Sample correction: Make sure that you have the right form of the verb with the right subject eg:

The Make sure that you have the right form of the verb with the right subject, eg:

• The politicians explain (plural subject - no 's' on verb)
• The politician explains (singular subject - 's' on verb).

Examples of specific feedback on errors

• "You have used this quote out of context."
• "Your quotes, figures, tables are not integrated into the text."
• "You have several statements which contradict each other…"
• "You have not included enough examples or references to support your idea."
• "Your ideas do not seem to link or follow on from each other, use words like 'for example', therefore' etc to guide the reader through your argument."
• "Check the use of nevertheless, despite, and on the other hand…"
• "Editing a student's work will not guarantee that they learn what they did wrong or that they will transfer the correct forms to the next time they write."
• "If many students have not understood the question – write it up, underline the key words, decide in groups what key points they want to make. Write out a thesis statement."