Embedded Files
Wise Feedback: Promoting Growth Mindset
Wise Feedback: Promoting Growth Mindset
Relationships, and the sense of belonging grow through intentional actions to connect with one another. Supiano (2023) expands upon the belonging question with some examples of the “social classroom” as part of this process. Social relations matter for student learning, yet teachers must also assess student learning, thus a power imbalance exists. The Wise Feedback model sets the stage for receptivity of the critical feedback that students may use to improve their future work.
The wise-feedback strategy appears deceptively simple but is powerful in application. Wise feedback prevents the student from misconstruing teacher comments as negatively biased by proactively offering an alternative, positive explanation: the teacher is giving detailed, ambitious feedback because the standards of the course are high and the teacher is confident that the student has the skills and motivation to meet them.
Students sometimes require pointed critical feedback on academic assignments to shape their learning. The reason that most instructors put substantial effort into providing often-detailed performance feedback is clear: to benefit the student. But many students—particularly those at risk of academic underperformance or failure—may instead misinterpret critical instructional feedback as a sign that the teacher lacks confidence in and is negatively biased toward the learner.
A factor that can contribute to students’ negatively skewed view of instructional feedback is that it is often ambiguous, presented without an explicit context for understanding the intention behind it. This ambiguity leaves learners free to impose their own interpretations—for example, regarding a teacher’s written or verbal feedback about an assignment as a sign either of caring and commitment or a curt dismissal of the student’s abilities (Yeager et al., 2013).
References
Artze-Vega, I., Darby, F., Dewsbury, B., & Imad, M. (2023). The Norton Guide to Equity-Minded Teaching. W.W. Norton and Company
Supiano, B. (2023, November 2). “The social classroom: Connections can be key to students’ academic success. Professors can help.” The Chronicle of Higher Education.
Wright, M. C., Rudder Lohe, D., Pinder-Grover, T., & Ortquist-Ahrens, L. (2018). The four Rs: Guiding CTLs with responsiveness, relationships, resources, and research. To Improve the Academy, 37(2), 271–286. https://doi.org/10.1002/tia2.20084
Yeager, D. S., et al. (2014). Breaking the cycle of mistrust: Wise interventions to provide critical feedback across the racial divide. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 143(2), 804. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0033906
Google Sites
Report abuse