Feedback from your lecturers and tutors is a useful source of information that can help improve your academic grades. Reading and thinking about feedback can tell you about your strengths as well as areas for improvement.
You might get formal feedback through your assessment submissions, or more casual feedback during lectures, tutorials and group discussions. You might also get feedback in discussion boards and announcements on Blackboard. All of these forms of feedback can give you an opportunity to ask for information, ideas, and new outlooks. They also help you to understand your progress and work on any issues before you submit your next assessment.
In brief, you can use feedback by:
To get the most out of feedback, write an action plan that describes how you will make use of the comments and suggestions provided. You can start collecting feedback as soon as you start your assessment, not just after submission. By asking for feedback early, you can make small improvements while you work on your assessment.
Feedback Action Plan Template [DOCX, 36kB]
Here are some tips to help you use feedback:
Read and understand the feedback
Look at the assessment brief and marking rubric as you go. Re-read the key points to make sure you have understood the feedback correctly.
Seek clarification
Write down any points that you don not understand so you can ask your tutor for clarification.
Identify and prioritise key areas for improvement
Write priorities and goals to use the feedback in your action plan. Remember, you do not have to tackle every piece of feedback at once; focus on parts that were mentioned most often. For example, if you often get feedback that your referencing or the structure and flow of your writing need to be improved, include them in your plan and work on them one at a time.
Tip: Keeping a record of the feedback from all your assessments will help you spot and fix persistent issues. Look for repeating issues in your work, like referencing errors, unclear arguments, or grammatical mistakes. Think about how you can use this information to help improve on your next assessment.
Find resources to help you improve
Check writing guides, workshops or academic support centres for help. Curtin Library offers lots of tools and services to help you work on your academic skills. Here are some examples:
Critical feedback is feedback that points out areas you need to work on in the future. Receiving critical feedback can feel discouraging, but always try to look at it as a learning opportunity. You should:
Remember! Academic study requires you to have scholarly conversations. When you take part in the coversation, ask questions and are open to different points of view, you gain control of your own learning.