Custom Feedback is a feature we've implemented that allows professors to guide the focus of the discussion directly on a student's post. You have the option to provide Praise to students who you feel have went above and beyond in engaging in a truly spark-worthy discussion. But you can also Coach students who you feel could use a little more guidance.
How to Give Feedback on Posts
We've made the process for giving feedback on posts easy for you to accomplish quickly. Take a look at our instructional video for step-by-step instructions on how you can go about giving feedback on a post!
Step-by-Step Instructions for Providing Praise
- Click Options at the bottom of the post you'd like to give feedback too and then Give Feedback
- In Step 1, make sure to set your feedback preference to Praise
- Step 2 gives you the option to Feature or Pin the post. Neither are required, but if you feel it is an exemplary post, give it that little extra praise!
- Finally in Step 3, make sure to provide a Custom Feedback Message! Let the student know what stood out to you, why you found it to be great, and provide any additional tips for future posting.
- When you're done, click Give Feedback.
Step-by-Step Instructions for Providing Coaching
- Click Options at the bottom of the post you'd like to give feedback too and then Give Feedback
- In Step 1, set your feedback preference to Coach
- Step 2 gives you the option to Moderate the post. This is completely optional, but if you believe it to have violated any of our Community Guidelines, the option is there for you to remove it from the Curiosity Feed.
- Finally in Step 3, provide a Custom Feedback Message! Let the student know how you believe the post can improve to be more effective.
- When you're done, click Give Feedback.
Why Use Custom Feedback?
To help professors have more control over the feedback their students receive, and to help that feedback provide scalable expectations to the class at large, we have introduced the Feedback Feature. This feature supports 3 main objectives in classes.
Scaling Professor Feedback
When professors offer Praise feedback on a post, it appears on that post publicly! This enables professors to scale the visibility and impact of their feedback by praising featured / pinned posts to help students build pattern recognition on what is a good post.
Giving professors more control
In the past, the feedback that students received through the Packback platform has always been entirely automated feedback- even if the professor chooses to Feature or Moderate a post. Now, if a professor wants to praise a great post, they can leave a custom comment and feature it at the same time! Conversely, if a professor sees a post that should be moderated, the student can now receive a custom feedback message from the professor telling them why they moderated the post and how to improve.
Improving student experience
The biggest variable in student satisfaction on Packback is how much they feel like the professor CARES about them and the use of the platform. The “Give Feedback” feature introduces the ability for a more personalized experience for the students.
How does Custom Feedback impact my students' grades?
Praise
Praising Feedback does not impact the students’ grades in any way. It is purely a means for you to be able to guide your class by calling attention to a great example post!
Coaching
Providing Coaching Feedback does not impact the students’ grades in any way on it’s own. It is a means of providing constructive feedback without causing a negative grade impact, as would be the case where a post meets all minimum requirements for the platform but where the student could still improve their next post.
However, if you choose to Moderate the post when giving Custom Feedback, then the post will be removed from their participation grade until they have edited and re-published it.