How to write constructive feedback for quiz questions

This article is about how to share and compose constructive commentary feedback for quiz questions.

Feedback options for quiz questions

Quiz feedback can be delivered synchronously during class or asynchronously after an online quiz is complete. It is important to approach your assessment design by considering how and when students will receive feedback.

Immediate feedback is preferred

Because quizzes are ideal 5-minute formative activities, and low-stakes summative assessment tasks they can be completed and graded early in the term. By providing immediate constructive feedback to students after they complete a quiz, you can ensure that students are able to identify their strengths and weakness with enough time to address issues and challenges.

The feedback that can be provided for quiz questions generally falls into one of two categories:

  1. Correct Response Feedback: The feedback students receive when they have answered a question correctly. This is usually a positive statement that encourages students that they are on the right track.
  2. Incorrect Response Feedback: The feedback students receive when they have answered a question incorrectly. This should be a constructive statement that indicates where students went wrong and how they can address the issue in future.

Types of feedback

When discussing constructive feedback, there are four different types to consider:

  • Negative feedback – corrective comments about past behaviour. Focuses on behaviour that wasn’t successful and shouldn’t be repeated.
  • Positive feedback – affirming comments about past behaviour. Focuses on behaviour that was successful and should be continued.
  • Negative feed-forward – corrective comments about future performance. Focuses on behaviour that should be avoided in the future.
  • Positive feed-forward – affirming comments about future behaviour. Focused on behaviour that will improve performance in the future.

(Federation University, n.d.)

References

Advanced Higher Education Academy (2022). The Developing Engagement with Feedback Toolkit (DEFT). https://www.advance-he.ac.uk/knowledge-hub/developing-engagement-feedback-toolkit-deft.

Federation University (n.d.) URL: https://federation.edu.au/staff/learning-and-teaching/teaching-practice/feedback/types-of-feedback

(Please note - it's better to refer to the Online version rather than export, as it's always up to date)