Gradebook - Leveraging Student Insights for Best Practices

For over three years, the main function of my job as a Student Success Advisor was to talk to students, so to say I have heard it all is by no means an exaggeration. From the student perspective, the feedback and guidance they receive from their professors throughout their time in the program is hands down the most impactful part of their experience in more ways than one. 

Functioning as a bridge to campus for online students, Student Success Advisors are the main escalation point for all issues and complaints. Any advisor would tell you that grades, especially a poor one, with no context or constructive criticism is typically the main reason students are upset. A student stated in an end of term survey, “I would like to see more feedback on papers. Professors most often put in a grade with no feedback. We put in a lot of time and effort into each paper and it is very disheartening to only have a grade at the end.” In most cases, if a student receives a bad grade but has ample feedback with guidance on how to improve where they went wrong, their upset feelings typically reverse into reflection upon their own efforts instead of towards the professor or the school. Providing feedback in all situations is win-win; the student’s experience is improved and any displeased feelings are mitigated because students feel like they are gaining invaluable insight.

Moreover, feedback can be a tool for creating community with online students. As we all know, working with online vs. on-ground students has its nuances. One of the most glaring differences is the initial feeling of community since it is likely online students have never been to the campus, walked into the University store to purchase school apparel, gone to the library for a study group, or attended professor office hours in person. Inevitably, online students are constantly looking for ways to build connections to the school and feel involved in the community. Professors play a vital role in this experience for students with any guiding comment, suggestion, or 1:1 meeting throughout the course. Students have described receiving continuous feedback as essentially equating to the professor investing in and caring about them. Constant feedback throughout the course is arguably the most impactful way professors can create a meaningful experience and cultivate community for the online student. 

In addition to creating community, any Student Success Advisor will tell you that feedback is incredibly motivating for students. A major theme amongst students is feeling more invested in not only that assignment, but also the course as a whole, if they know they will receive feedback from their professor. Anecdotally, I would ask students halfway through a course how things are going. They reported at times that they stopped doing the asynchronous homework segments because they know their professor never gives feedback on the exercises, so there seems to be no point in spending too much time or energy on the assignment if they do not get feedback. One student said in an end of course survey, “Going the entire session without any feedback on the written answers given is very frustrating and demotivating because there’s no way of knowing if we’re understanding the concepts without feedback.” Of course, the responsibility is on the students for owning their experience in a program, but it is notable interesting to hear how an assignment can quickly lose the value it once held without an instructor providing guidance. 

In summary, feedback is invaluable in ways that you may not have considered before. One student said, “Nowadays there are many online courses to learn from, but to have feedback specific to your work product is even more valuable as a learning tool,” on an end of term survey. Term over term, students say their faculty is the best part of their online master’s experience.

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