Teacher’s Notes

Module 15

Activity 1

Feedback category Choose the applicable statement (A-D) from above

1 Strengths B

2 Weaknesses A

3 Improvements to be D
made

4 Assessment results C

Activity 2

Statement Helpful Unhelpful Explanation

1 Do you know the loci method? It might help you  Where to

remember words better. next?

2 Vocabulary is your greatest weakness. You  Which area

need to study harder. should I work
on?

3 Your use of tenses is a catastrophe. 

4 You did a good job. 

5 Vocabulary boxes can be useful for memorizing  Where to

new words. next?

6 Your use of tenses has improved a little because  Where am I

you do not seem to mix them up any more. going?

7 I really saw how well you have worked on your  How am I

connectives. going?
 8 I think you might want to work on…  Where to
next?

9 You should have prepared better for this test. 

Activity 3

Teacher first elicit students for reasons why feedback doesn’t work. They are the ones that do not entail
the features of effective feedback in the next part or the principles of providing feedback.

Some examples of reasons for ineffective feedback

- Untimely, incomprehensible, unsupportive, unconstructive feedback

- Feedback that does not specify area(s) that need improvement.
- Feedback that does not give students suggestion with specific examples for their further
improvement.
- Feedback that does not give students the chance for reflection.

Activity 4

The teacher first asks students to brainstorm/list some criteria that help them to formulate the
feedback. For example:

- Which questions should I ask Diana for her self-reflection?

- Which part(s) has she done well?
- Which part(s) need further improvement?
- What suggestions can I make for her further improvement?

My suggestion for feedback on Diana’s work:

Diana, tell me what you think you did well in your 3-minute talk. (…) Was the introduction OK? (…) Yes, I
liked your question best, the one about how important the sun is. That got everyone’s attention. Did you
keep good eye contact with your audience? (…) I think you did. How about speaking clearly? (…) One could
understand you well most of the time, but be sure to pronounce your important sentences really clearly
so that everyone gets them. That’s also true for the beginnings of some of your sentences. How do you
feel about the language you used? (…) Yes, most of the time it was fine, and you used correct sentences
with good connectives between your sentences. But you need to pay attention to your style. This is a
presentation you give to people you might not know, so you cannot use slang like gonna and wanna.
That’s too informal. If you like YouTube, you might want to watch examples of formal presentations, really
brief ones, and note the typical expressions that many presenters use. Then you can use them yourself to
have the perfect presentation.
Activity 5

First video: giving feedback to a primary school student

Effective Ineffective
- Reminding the student to use reading - May be improved by asking questions to
strategies elicit/remind the reading strategies the
- Specifying the word(s) students student should apply.
misenunciated (Eddie), giving
explanation, providing a correct sample
- Eliciting student’s reflection by asking
question (have you ever heard someone
called Ed?)
- Acknowledging the difficulties in
pronouncing proper names
- Praising the student for her progress and
practice

Second video: giving feedback to a secondary school student

Effective Ineffective
- Specifying and praising the student’s
improvement and effort between the
two tests
- Setting a specific goal for the student
(100%)
- Specifying the areas the student have
problem with (regrouping, borrowing)
- Giving explanation for tricky questions
- Giving prompt questions for the student’s
reflection (which area the student
struggled with? Which strategies should
be applies?)
- Providing encouragement (I believe you
can do it)
- Combining both negative and positive
comment

Activity 6

For this activity, teacher may ask students record themselves giving feedback if the students have been
working as a tutor/teacher.

Alternative options:

a. Students may work in role-play groups in which one teacher takes over the role of a teacher,
others are pretended students. They record the video for feedback giving session.
b. Teacher may hold this activity in class with some students play the role of teachers giving
feedback to students performing some tasks.
Activity 7

For this activity, asking the students to refer back to their recording in Activity 6, use the
criteria/principles of giving feedback to write down reflection for their feedback.

Activity 8

This activity can be done as an in-class group wrap up or an individual homework task. Students can
make a mind map of their insights/features of good and bad feedback.