What is it?
A realistic Guide to life at UCLan - written by students!
Feedback is part of everyday life, you are constantly assessing people and situations and giving your thoughts and opinions on them; this in its self is feedback. Recent research with UCLan students has shown they largely understand feedback to be written comments on their work or verbal comments to go with the written feedback…
Is this wrong? No, not at all, but it is a simplistic view of what feedback really is. Feedback is much more than just the comments on your work. It is a continuous learning process and a vital part of the student experience. It can be peer to peer and it can also be received in a class room situation. It is reflective and developmental and it will help you to maximise your potential. It also teaches you to accept criticism and praise and be constructive with it.
Feedback can be received in two ways, as generic feedback and individual feedback.
Great…but what does that mean?
Individual feedback: Individual feedback is what you would consider ‘formal feedback’ or students would call ‘actual feedback’. Often students are not satisfied until they receive this. Individual feedback would be the grades on your work, the written comments on your assignments and your ‘official’ meetings with your lecturers to discuss your work and it usually comes after the deadline when your work can not be changed.
Generic feedback: Generic feedback is something which is often not recognised by students as being feedback, when actually it is a very important form of feedback. It is what you may term as ‘informal feedback’. It can often take the form of a conversation with a lecturer about your work before you hand it in. It could come from a fellow student in a group discussion about your work. It could be your lecturer addressing the class with generic comments. What ever form it takes, generic feedback is what it says; feedback. Just because you have not received your work back with detailed written comments all over it (individual feedback) does not necessarily mean you have not received any feedback at all.
