Personalized feedback as a strategy for improving motivation and performance among middle school students

Abstract

Feedback is a powerful means for promoting learning, but not all forms of feedback are equally effective. Guided by a large body of feedback research, we argue that personalized feedback provides a particularly important opportunity for enhancing motivation and achievement among middle school students. In this article, we review the extant literature on personalized feedback strategies and discuss four recommended feedback principles. We provide specific examples for applying them in middle school classrooms to promote student motivation and achievement. In addition, we discuss how each recommended principle aligns with the developmental needs of middle school students. We conclude with an example of how technology can facilitate the personalized feedback process.

Keywords:

• adolescence
• feedback
• middle school
• motivation

Notes

¹ There are many other areas of research with important implications for how middle school educators should provide feedback to students (e.g., the classroom discourse literature; see Cazden, 1998, 2001; Nystrand, Wu, Gamoran, Zeiser, & Long, 2003). However, we do not discuss this literature in the article given that we do not seek to provide a comprehensive review of all research on personalized feedback. Rather, this article focuses on identifying personalized feedback principles primarily grounded in the motivation literature.

² It is important to note that the positive impact of written comments is less consistent when the written comments are simultaneously accompanied by grades. When grades must also be provided, we recommend sharing them with students only after the students have had an opportunity to first review the written feedback.

³ Especially when educators are less experienced with communicating personalized feedback via video conferencing, it may be valuable to prepare some general notes in advance of the meeting. Doing so may help educators to avoid spontaneously sharing information that could undermine motivation and learning (e.g., normative feedback and/or feedback that is about the student as a person; see Principles 3 and 4).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Alison C. Koenka

Alison C. Koenka, Ph.D., is an assistant professor of Educational Psychology at Virginia Commonwealth University. Email: [email protected]

Eric M. Anderman

Eric M. Anderman, Ph.D., is a professor of Educational Psychology at The Ohio State University. Email: [email protected]