The Impact of Feedback on Student-Faculty Relationships

By: Lauren Trejo, Former EMU Communication Sciences and Disorders graduate student

The concept of feedback is engrained in students from an early age, resulting in most students being very familiar with receiving feedback by the time they pursue higher education. Feedback can impact how the students feel about a course, course content, or the course instructor. The process of feedback is straightforward on the surface: the instructor reviews a student’s work or performance and then gives information on what was done well and what could be done better. However, feedback can be complex when diving deeper into the different types of language that can be used. Directive feedback typically includes specific suggestions to the student; however, nondirective feedback in contrast aims to prompt the student to reflect deeper on their work and does not offer a specific, concrete suggestion. Critical feedback points out mistakes or errors but does not offer suggestions or instructions to resolve them, while supportive feedback aims to encourage or affirm the work of the student. In addition to considering the type of feedback given, faculty may give feedback in writing, verbally, or in a combination of the two.

In my master’s thesis research, I studied how types of feedback influenced and impacted the students and if it had any effect on their relationships with faculty both inside and outside of the classroom. We know from the literature that college students benefit from positive interactions with faculty and that graduate students in particular view their relationships with faculty as one of the key factors in how they perceive their education. I explored graduate students’ perspectives, thoughts, and attitudes on feedback experiences they recalled as being “pleasant” or “unpleasant” throughout their programs. I also asked them to react to mock written feedback. What I discovered from this study was that these students did in fact have very strong reactions to feedback types and less strong reactions to the modalities of written or verbal feedback being used.

Students that received feedback with minimal supportive comments or nondirective comments responded with feelings of “shutting down” that led them to limit their interactions with faculty both in and outside of class. Students avoided interacting with faculty who gave them this type of feedback, preferring to rely on classmates to get assistance rather than speaking directly with the professor. In contrast, feedback that was both supportive and constructive in nature was perceived to have benefitted them the most and caused them to feel much more comfortable not only interacting with faculty in class but seeking them out outside of class as well.

Students expressed having mixed preferences regarding the mode of feedback delivery. Some students found a mixture of both verbal and written feedback to be the most beneficial as the verbal feedback was “immediate and specific” and they enjoyed being able to reference the written feedback multiple times due to it being “more concrete”. Other students expressed that verbal feedback allowed for professors to “explain things better” and allowed for further clarification in the moment. Written feedback was viewed as more ambiguous at times with it being easier to take things out of context. These findings of my research study revealed that there is in fact a connection between the types of feedback used and students’ perceived approachability of faculty following their feedback experience. To ensure best feedback practices and subsequent relationships with their students, faculty members need to examine their current feedback practices, including language and modalities used to identify any barriers they may unintentionally be creating.

To make your feedback as impactful as possible and increase the likelihood of students coming to you for support, begin by creating a space where students can be active participants in the discussion of their feedback rather than passive listeners. Disclose at the beginning of the semester your own feelings towards feedback and what its intended purpose is in your course and classroom. You can also consider incorporating a feedback preference survey to be completed by students. This would allow you to see which students prefer written, verbal, or both and would allow you to tailor your current practices in ways that will align best with their learning preferences.

Perhaps the most important piece to consider in modifying your feedback styles is to be very aware of the language that you are using. As faculty members you need to not only think of what you are saying but also how you are saying it. When giving written feedback, this may look like reading through your feedback comments a second time with the lens of a student and imagining how you would feel if you were the student receiving that comment. Are there excessive comments or critiques? If yes, consider reviewing what the student did well and add in some comments acknowledging their strengths. Punctuation matters. Almost all the students from my study reported that written feedback came across with a much more negative tone if it lacked the occasional exclamation mark. This element caused students to feel more comfortable with the faculty and increased their likelihood of engaging with them. When giving verbal feedback, be mindful of the tone of voice and body language that is being used. Are you allowing the student to share their perspective or thoughts in this process or simply reiterating what was done correctly or incorrectly? Students conveyed that verbal feedback delivered with the faculty merely listing all the mistakes and failing to ask the students their own thoughts hindered the student in feeling comfortable asking further questions, which might lead to more of an open discussion. Implementing some of these practices will likely increase your overall approachability as perceived by students and will decrease students avoiding reaching out to you for further support.

Consider that not one feedback type or modality will be effective for all your students. Creating modifications to your current feedback styles and preferences to meet the students where they are most successful will allow for greater opportunities for relationships between students and faculty to grow. We know from the literature this is extremely beneficial in students’ higher education experiences.