Requirements
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Provide effective prompting during an activity and feedback after the assignment is complete."
Feedback systems are perhaps the most overlooked aspect of learning and performance environments. And yet, they are the most critical and the one that students will comment on the most as lacking. It is not surprising that this principle has the slimmest definition of all. So let’s flesh it out a little.
In general Universal Design, feedback was “the system” telling you that what you did worked so keep on doing it, or didn’t so try again. We get that sort of feedback naturally all the time from physical environments. We push on a door and it doesn’t open – so we can try again or figure out what we’re doing wrong and adjust course. When we go through terminals in an airport, the signs above give us feedback that we’re following the right path or are not and give us information on how to adjust course if we’re lost. Feedback is integral to everyday life – we are so used to getting it that by now, we don’t even consciously recognize it most of the time.
However, this is not the case in learning and performance environments. Learners and employees often report frustrations with environments – am I doing a good job? Is this what the teacher wanted? Is this what my boss was looking for? Is anyone on the same page as me? What are other people doing? If I’m not on target, what should I do to be on target? These are all very legitimate questions. And generational research shows that younger generations are expecting more and more feedback, with increasing frequency, and want to provide feedback.
There are entire books on designing feedback systems – so we can’t provide that level of detail here. However, we can list some basic guidelines for effective feedback systems:
- Learners or performers should be able to access feedback any time they want
- Feedback should be on-going, constructive, and part of the learning process, not just part of an evaluation process
- Learners or performers should have the opportunity to integrate feedback into their learning or work to demonstrate on-going growth
- Feedback should be related to the learning or performance target
- Feedback should be a naturally-occurring feature of the learning environment – when a learner or performer takes an action or engages in an activity, they should receive feedback in-the-moment that helps them adjust
For more on effective feedback systems, especially in performance environments, see:
List references here