Giving and Receiving Feedback

Introduction

Feedback is information that helps you understand what is working well and what you could improve. You give feedback when you respond to someone else's work, idea, performance, or behavior. You receive feedback when someone responds to yours.

Good feedback is not about being "the judge." It is about helping another person learn. When you use feedback well, you can become a clearer writer, speaker, teammate, artist, athlete, and problem-solver.

In this aiMOOC, you will practise how to:

Listen carefully before answering.
Give feedback that is kind, specific, and useful.
Receive feedback without arguing or giving up.
Ask questions when feedback is unclear.
Choose a useful next step and revise your work.
Use communication skills during pair and group work.

What Makes Feedback Helpful?

Helpful feedback gives a learner information they can use. A simple rule for Grades 5–6 is:

Kind + Specific + Useful = Helpful Feedback

Kind means you speak respectfully. You focus on the work or action, not on attacking the person.

Specific means you name the exact part you are talking about. Instead of saying "Great job," you might say, "Your opening sentence made me want to keep reading."

Useful means your comment helps the person know what to do next. For example: "Try adding one example to explain your idea."

A positive signal can show encouragement, but it usually does not give enough information by itself. "I like it" is friendly. "I like how your diagram labels each part clearly" is friendly and specific.

Feedback Is About the Work, Not the Person

Compare these two comments:

Unhelpful: "You are bad at explaining."

Helpful: "I understood your first point, but I was confused by the second one. Could you add an example?"

The helpful version talks about the explanation, tells what happened to the listener, and suggests a next step. This protects respect while still being truthful.

You can use sentence starters such as:

I noticed: "I noticed that your poster has three clear headings."
A strength is: "A strength is the way you used examples."
I wonder: "I wonder if you could explain this word."
A next step could be: "A next step could be to check the spelling in the final paragraph."

Giving Feedback

Giving feedback is a communication skill. Your goal is to help, not to show that you are smarter.

Step 1: Understand the Goal

Before you comment, find out what the person is trying to do. A story, science model, speech, drawing, and football pass all have different goals.

Ask yourself:

What is the task?
What does success look like?
What part am I supposed to comment on?

If your class has a checklist or rubric, use it. Feedback is more useful when it connects to the goal.

Step 2: Notice a Strength

Start with something true and specific that is already working.

Instead of: "Nice!"

Try: "Your title tells me exactly what the poster is about."

Instead of: "Good speech!"

Try: "You looked at the audience and spoke loudly enough for me to hear every main point."

A real strength helps the learner know what to keep doing.

Step 3: Suggest One Useful Next Step

Too many suggestions at once can feel confusing. Choose an important next step.

For example: "Your argument is clear. Add one fact to support it."

"Your drawing shows the main shape accurately. Check the size of the wings compared with the body."

"Your group explained the rules well. Next time, give each speaker about the same amount of time."

Step 4: Check Your Tone

Your words, face, and voice all affect how feedback feels. Speak calmly. Avoid laughing at mistakes, rolling your eyes, or using insulting words.

Respectful feedback can still be honest. You do not need to pretend everything is perfect. You need to explain your idea in a way that gives the other person a fair chance to learn from it.

Video Example: Critique Can Improve Work

The following EL Education video tells the story of a young learner improving a butterfly drawing through several rounds of specific peer critique. Watch for the difference between a vague comment and a precise suggestion.

After watching, discuss: Which comments helped the learner make a visible change? Why were those comments useful?

Receiving Feedback

Receiving feedback is a skill too. You may feel proud, nervous, disappointed, or surprised when someone comments on your work. Feelings are normal, but you can still choose a helpful response.

Listen Before You Answer

Active listening means giving your attention to the speaker and trying to understand the message before you respond.

Try this sequence:

Look or turn toward the speaker when appropriate.
Let the person finish.
Listen for the strength and the suggested next step.
Ask a question if something is unclear.
Decide what part of the feedback will help you improve.

You do not have to agree with every comment. You should first make sure you understand it.

Ask for Clarification

If feedback is too general, ask for details.

If someone says, "Make it better," you can ask: "What part should I improve first?"

If someone says, "It is confusing," you can ask: "Where did you start feeling confused?"

If two people give different suggestions, you can ask: "Which suggestion fits the task goal best?"

Questions turn feedback into a conversation.

Separate Yourself from Your Work

A comment about your draft is not a statement about your value as a person.

"This paragraph needs more evidence" means the paragraph can be improved.

It does not mean "You are not good at English."

Learners grow by revising, practising, trying again, and using information from mistakes. This connects feedback with a growth mindset.

Choose What to Use

After listening, decide what action makes sense.

You might:

Keep a part that already works.
Change a part after receiving a useful suggestion.
Ask the teacher when two suggestions conflict.
Test both ideas and compare the results.
Explain politely why you chose a different solution.

Receiving feedback does not mean obeying every suggestion. It means thinking carefully about the information.

Video: Better Peer Feedback in Elementary Classrooms

This Edutopia video gives practical ideas for making peer feedback clearer and more useful in elementary classrooms.

As you watch, write down one idea that would make peer feedback work better in your class.

A Simple Feedback Conversation

A useful feedback conversation can follow four moves:

1. Notice — Say what you observed.

2. Explain — Say why that part worked or was difficult to understand.

3. Suggest — Offer one possible next step.

4. Respond — The receiver listens, asks a question, and decides what to try.

Example:

Mia: "I noticed that your first slide has a clear title. I understood the topic immediately."

Leo: "Thanks."

Mia: "On the second slide, I could not read the smallest words from the back. Maybe make the text bigger."

Leo: "Which words were hardest to read?"

Mia: "The labels under the pictures."

Leo: "Okay. I will enlarge those labels and check them from the back of the room."

This conversation is useful because the feedback is about a clear part of the work and leads to an action.

Peer Feedback and Revision

Peer feedback means learners respond to one another's work. It can help you notice things that are hard to see in your own work.

Peer feedback works best when everyone knows the goal, uses respectful language, and has time to revise afterward. Without revision, feedback may stay only as words. With revision, feedback becomes part of learning.

A good peer-feedback routine is:

Complete a first draft.
Share it with a partner.
Receive one specific strength.
Receive one useful question or suggestion.
Ask for clarification if needed.
Revise one important part.
Compare the first and revised versions.

Feedback in Different Subjects

Feedback is useful across many school subjects.

English: A partner can tell you whether your story has a clear beginning, middle, and ending.

Science: A classmate can check whether your diagram labels the important parts and whether your explanation matches the evidence.

Mathematics: A partner can ask you to explain a step that is hard to follow without simply giving you the answer.

Art: A peer can describe what stands out and suggest where detail, contrast, shape, or proportion could be improved.

Physical education: A teammate can comment on a movement or teamwork skill using a class rule or success criterion.

Projects: Group members can give feedback on planning, roles, presentation, and whether the final product meets the goal.

Feedback Problems and Better Choices

Problem: The feedback is only praise.
Better choice: Keep the encouragement, then add a specific reason or next step.

Problem: The feedback sounds rude.
Better choice: Describe the work and use respectful words.

Problem: The receiver interrupts immediately.
Better choice: Listen to the whole comment before answering.

Problem: The suggestion is too large.
Better choice: Pick one manageable change.

Problem: Two people disagree.
Better choice: Return to the task goal, test ideas, or ask the teacher.

Problem: The feedback is unclear.
Better choice: Ask, "Can you show me which part you mean?"

Practise With a Feedback Ladder

You can use this four-step ladder with a partner:

Describe: What do you see, hear, or understand?

Praise: What specific part is already effective?

Question: What do you want to understand better?

Suggest: What is one possible next step?

Do not jump straight to fixing everything. First understand the work.

Interactive Tasks

Quiz: Test Your Knowledge

Which feedback is the most specific? (Your opening sentence made the topic clear) (!Good job) (!I like it) (!That was cool)

What should you do first when receiving feedback? (Listen until the speaker finishes) (!Argue with every point) (!Change everything immediately) (!Ignore the speaker)

Which comment focuses on the work instead of the person? (This paragraph needs one more example) (!You are a bad writer) (!You never understand anything) (!You are not creative)

What makes a suggestion useful? (It gives a possible next step) (!It embarrasses the learner) (!It uses many difficult words) (!It changes the topic)

What can you ask when feedback is unclear? (Which part do you mean) (!Why are you always wrong) (!Can we forget the task) (!Will you do the work for me)

Why is a task goal important during feedback? (It helps you judge what the work needs) (!It makes every answer identical) (!It stops people from asking questions) (!It replaces careful listening)

Which response shows active listening? (Thanks can you explain which sentence was unclear) (!Stop talking I disagree) (!I will not listen) (!Your work is worse)

What is a good reason to revise after feedback? (To use helpful information to improve the work) (!To copy another person exactly) (!To avoid thinking about the task) (!To make the first draft disappear)

What should you do if two suggestions conflict? (Check the goal and ask for clarification) (!Choose the loudest person) (!Ignore both people every time) (!Start insulting the reviewers)

Which formula best describes helpful feedback? (Kind specific and useful) (!Fast loud and funny) (!Long difficult and strict) (!Secret vague and personal)

Memory Game

Specific	Names the exact part of the work being discussed
Respect	Treats the other person with care and fairness
Listen	Gives full attention before responding
Revision	Changes a draft after thinking about useful information
Question	Asks for more detail when a comment is unclear
Goal	Describes what the task is trying to achieve

Drag and Drop

Match the correct terms.	Topic
Specific	Names the exact part you are talking about
Kind	Uses respectful language
Useful	Gives information that can guide improvement
Listen fully	Waits until the speaker has finished
Choose a next step	Turns feedback into an action

...

Crossword Puzzle

Feedback	What information helps someone understand strengths and possible improvements
Specific	What word means clear and exact rather than general
Respect	What helps feedback stay fair and kind
Listen	What should you do before answering a comment
Revision	What is a changed version of work after reviewing it
Improve	What can useful feedback help you do

LearningApps

Cloze Text

Open-Ended Tasks

Easy

Feedback sentence starters: Create a small card with four sentence starters you can use to give kind, specific, and useful feedback.
Two stars and a step: Look at a short piece of your own work, write two specific strengths, and name one next step for improvement.
Feedback comic: Draw a four-panel comic showing one unhelpful feedback conversation and a better version of the same conversation.
Listening role-play: With a partner, act out a one-minute feedback conversation in which the receiver listens fully and asks one clarifying question.

Standard

Peer review project: Exchange a paragraph, poster, or drawing with a classmate, give one specific strength and one useful suggestion, then revise your work.
Feedback interview: Interview a teacher, coach, family member, or older student about how they give useful feedback and report three ideas to your class.
Feedback video: Record a short teaching video that demonstrates how to turn vague comments such as good job or make it better into specific feedback.
School feedback walk: Visit a suitable learning place in your school such as the library, art room, workshop, or sports area and collect examples of how people receive guidance and improve their work.

Advanced

Feedback experiment: Make two versions of the same short task, revise one using specific feedback, leave the other unchanged, and compare which version better meets the goal.
Class feedback guide: Design a one-page guide for your class that explains rules, sentence starters, and examples for respectful peer feedback.
Multiple perspectives: Ask three classmates for feedback on the same piece of work, sort their comments into strengths, questions, and suggestions, and decide which ideas you will use.
Feedback mini-documentary: Plan and produce a short video with interviews, examples, and your own explanation showing how feedback can support learning in different school subjects.

Learning Assessment

Feedback analysis: Compare a vague comment with a specific comment and explain which one would help a learner more and why.
Revision evidence: Show a first draft and a revised draft, identify the feedback you used, and explain the change it caused.
Respectful disagreement: Write or perform a response to feedback you do not fully agree with while still showing that you listened and understood.
Goal-based decision: Read three different suggestions for the same task and decide which one best matches the task goal, giving reasons for your choice.
Cross-subject transfer: Explain how feedback for a story, a science diagram, and a sports skill would need to be different even though the basic feedback rules stay the same.
Feedback reflection: Describe one feedback habit you already use well and one habit you want to improve, including a concrete plan for your next group task.

Evidence of Learning

Knowledge: You can explain the difference between vague praise, personal criticism, and helpful feedback. You understand why goals, specificity, respect, questions, and revision matter.

Skills: You can listen without interrupting, identify a strength, give one useful next step, ask for clarification, respond respectfully, and decide which suggestions fit a task.

Products: Your evidence may include a revised draft, feedback card, peer-review sheet, comic, poster, interview notes, guide, presentation, or video.

Transfer: You can use feedback skills in English, science, mathematics, art, physical education, group projects, clubs, sports, and other situations where people learn together.

Reflection: You can explain how feedback changed your work and what you would do differently in a future feedback conversation.

OERs on the Topic

Explore the English Wikipedia article on peer assessment to learn more about learners reviewing one another's work.

Linked Learning Areas

The main idea of giving and receiving feedback is that learning improves when people communicate clearly about goals, strengths, questions, and next steps. Good feedback depends on both the giver and the receiver. The giver needs respect and specificity; the receiver needs listening, questions, thinking, and willingness to revise.

Giving and Receiving Feedback

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