Getting feedback on a university assignment is extremely important. It allows you to gain constructive criticism on your work and gives you tips on what you can do to improve next time. It can be quite easy to just read the feedback once and immediately move on. However, I think it is very beneficial to utilise this feedback as much as you can. Here are my tips on how to make the most of assignment feedback.
Don’t just focus on the grade
I think everyone is guilty of this. As soon as the assignment feedback is released back to us, we’re immediately focused on the grade. Sometimes we’re pleased with the result, other times we’re not. As I mentioned before, it’s easy to digest the grade, glance at the feedback, and move on with the day.
Don’t get me wrong, I think we should digest the grade. After all, grades on particular assignments can contribute to what degree classification we get at the end. But if there are instances where you are not pleased with the grade, using the feedback on that assignment can help you with future assignments.
Keep an open mind
Sometimes we end up receiving assignment feedback and a grade that we’re not pleased with. It’s easy to feel disheartened with that feeling of not wanting to see the feedback because of the criticism you could potentially get. It’s important to try and keep an open mind when receiving this criticism. Try not to think of it as a negative. Instead, think of this criticism as a way to better yourself for next time.
Check the specific comments, not just overall feedback
When you receive your feedback on an assignment, it’s common for your lecturer to leave specific feedback on your work. I was guilty of not checking this when I received my first feedback back on an assignment. It was only when I received another set of feedback that I realised specific comments were available throughout my work. My lecturer had put in the overall feedback “please see the specific comments for further clarification”.
These sets of comments within your work will be just as important as the overall feedback. For example, in your overall feedback, your lecturer might say something along the lines of “you have started to use critical analysis but this needs to be developed further within your work.” When you look at the specific comments within your work, your lecturer will probably comment at certain points saying “good use of critical analysis” or “further critical analysis is needed.” This leads to my next tip.
Read your assignment again with the feedback in mind
Once you’ve read through your feedback, open up your assignment and read through it again. Does the feedback make sense now? Are you aware of the sections within your assignment that you need to improve? I find this extremely beneficial. It’s easy to do an assignment and think “Yep, this is really good” but it’s only when you look back with the feedback in mind that you realise what needs to be done to make the assignment better. The specific comments within the assignment also help with this as it’s the lecturer telling you about a section of your work that has either been done well or needs improvement.
Get clarification from your lecturer
Sometimes, there may be feedback that you don’t understand particularly well. Don’t be afraid to ask your lecturer for clarification. They may email you or ask you to come and speak to them in their office. Alternatively, you could ask your personal tutor (if you have one.) Whatever it may be, if you don’t understand something within your feedback, get someone to explain further.
Create a feedback document
This is probably my favourite tip I can offer. I have used a feedback document ever since I started university and I have found it so useful. Within this document, I write what the assignment was, and then I create a table with two columns: one for strengths and one for weaknesses. I then look through the feedback I have received and will write down the things I did well and the things I need to improve. You can either create a feedback document for each assignment or have all of your assignment feedback across your degree together. Either way should work.
I then have this feedback document open at all times when I’m working on my next assignment. This is so I can make sure I’m focusing on the areas of improvement so I can do better. It’s also important to focus on the strengths too, just to make sure you’re continuing to do the strengths to a high standard.
I hope this has helped you! Thank you for reading.
Beth
Beth Olivia 