The Role of Feedback in Adult Learning: A Literature Review with Instructor Recommendations
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Research to Practice
Presentation Format Requested
Roundtable (45 minutes)
Session Abstract
Instructor feedback to learners is a critical, yet frequently overlooked, ingredient in adult students' learning. Feedback takes many forms, often depending upon subject matter, instructors' objectives, assigned learning tasks, and students' anticipated learning goals. This session presents a review of the literature on instructor feedback and provides recommendations for instruction.
Target Audience
The presentation is targeted to the general audience of adult education instructors, across a range of adult education programs--from adult basic education to graduate education.
Learning Outcomes
Participants/learners will, following the presentation, be able to:
(1) define feedback;
(2) describe the purposes of feedback;
(3) indicate the different forms that feedback takes; and,
(4) explain how to use feedback effectively during and following instruction.
Session Description
The idea of instructor feedback is ubiquitous in education. The act of giving feedback to students is commonplace to the point of seeming mundane. Yet, feedback processes are complex and giving effective feedback to students depends upon numerous factors, including the students themselves, the assigned learning tasks, characteristics of instructors that are giving the feedback, the student-teacher relationship, and the content of the feedback message, among other characteristics. Teacher training and professional development programs devote scant attention to preparing teachers to provide the kinds of feedback that best enable student learning and academic success. Thus, teachers resort to their "own best method"--what they have observed through the course of their own development as students and as teachers. When teachers understand how (and when) to provide feedback, and the conditions for which feedback is most beneficial, then their students are likely to experience greater engagement and success. The presentation will address important principles of feedback along with implications for instruction.
Format & Technique
The session will be prepared and organized as a roundtable paper presentation, with relevant information presented to the audience (15 mins.), followed by prompted audience discussion (15 mins.), and question-and-answer (15 mins.).
Primary Presenter
M Cecil Smith, Ph.D., West VIrginia University
Work Title
Professor of Educational Psychology