Ask-Dr-Kirk

Dear Dr. Kirk: How To Give Feedback To Students?

Dear Dr. Kirk:

I need advice on giving feedback to my students. I always struggle with what and how much to say.

Speechless in Seattle

Dear Speechless:

A colleague and friend of mine, Timothy Johnson at CarpeFactum provides some great advice on giving feedback to a colleague that could be adapted when we're giving feedback to our students.  Use the acronym THIRD...

TIMELY.  Feedback must be timely in order to give your students the opportunity to learn from their mistakes and do better on the next assignment.  As Tim notes, "feedback has a shelf life, and the sooner you can tell the person what s/he did right or wrong, the stronger the message will be." 

HONEST.  Although we need to use sensitivity in giving feedback, we shouldn't water down the message so much that the student doesn't get the message.  Be direct and say what it would take to make the paper or assignment better.

IMPROVING.   Make sure your feedback provides constructive criticism.  It doesn't do the student any good to give a grade without indicating why they got the grade and how they can improve for future assignments.  Sharing your rubric is a good way to do this.

RELEVANT.   I had a Dean once that gave me a lower than expected evaluation on my teaching during my annual review.  When I asked him what I could do to improve, he responded by telling me I needed to use powerpoint slides in the classroom... Make sure your feedback makes sense.

DIRECT.  If your student needs to get help with grammar or writing techniques, say so and put him or her in touch with resources available at your university. 

Bumping up the quality of your feedback by a THIRD will help your students learn your expectations and do better on future assignments.

University of South Florida MBA Class Participates In Walk For Charity

 

Above are photos of my MBA class (Cohort VII) at the Heart Walk in Sarasota on Saturday, September 26. As you can see, we all enjoyed this team building exercise and giving back to the community. The College of Business raised a total of $1510 for the American Heart Association.

Photos by James M. Maher

 

Free Resource On Writing Teaching Philosophy Statements

Faculty Focus has a great free document available for faculty: Examples and Tips on How to Write a Teaching Philosophy Statement.

100 Lectures By Top Scientists

If you teach earth science, biology, physics, astronomy, chemistry, engineering, or technology, you might find these lectures useful.

50 Awesome Ways (Plus One More) To Use Skype In The Classroom

I had hoped to get Mike Wagner, CEO of White Rabbit Group, to come to Florida and talk to my MBA class on personal branding. The logistics didn't work out so instead we're doing the workshop by Skype. Skype is a free video phone service that requires a computer, webcam, and internet access. The great thing about it is Mike will be able to show powerpoint slides and link to websites as well as see the students and have the students see him, all without ever leaving Iowa.

For more ideas, here's 50 awesome ways to use skype in the classroom.

Students and Social Networking: Should You "Friend" Your Students?

Interesting discussion (and tips) on whether you should "friend" your students on social networking sites such as Facebook or MySpace.

E-portfolios A Useful Tool For Both Students And Faculty

Found this interesting article on using e-portfolios, defined as digital collections of student work where students collect, select, and reflect on their work. There are lots of links included to universities who are currently using these as part of their curriculum.

E-portfolios would also be a useful way for faculty to put together their own research, publications, teaching philosophy, sample syllabi, etc., to use for annual review, tenure, and promotion.

Download E-portfolios

Share These Tips With Your Students: 77 Ways To Learn And Retain Information

Here are some really interesting tips to help your students learn better and retain information longer such as take a nap, go for a walk, listen to music...

What Does It Take To Motivate Students?

Dan Pink talks about what it takes to motivate employees in today's organizations: autonomy, mastery, and purpose. It seems to me that we could use this same approach to motivate our students as we design our courses.

My Twitter Assignment For Students

Directions:

1. Go to Twitter to sign up using some version of your first and last name as your Twitter ID.
2. Upload a photo or avatar (can use Google to get free clip art)
3. Write a brief (160 characters or fewer) bio. Mention that you’re a MBA student at USF.
4. Choose two organizations to follow on Twitter for one week.
   

• Lists of organizations that Twitter:  organized by category of business, non-profit, government, media, etc.
• 12 ways to find brands and companies on Twitter
• Top Chief Marketing Officers (CMOs) on Twitter 
• CEOs on Twitter

At the end of the week, each student should analyze how effective he or she believes the companies were in using Twitter and report this back to the class.

NOTE: For more tips for students on using Twitter, see Barbara Nixon's blog here.

How To Organize Files In Your Office

Prof. Hacker gives advice on how to organize all that stuff in your office (you know what I mean...all those copies of handouts, notes, student papers, etc)