Feedback frenzy

On two occasions recently, I was delayed in grading and returning papers & projects to my students. My usual policy is to return their quizzes, exams, etc at the next class period and/or posting them to Canvas by that time. This time it took me about a week in one case and an extra class period (2 days) in the second case. For the first, I actually sent a Canvas message to the class telling them not to stalk Canvas for their grade. For the second, I apologized in class.

As a student, it annoyed me to no end to wait interminably for review or grading of my work. I had put in a ton of work to make my submission as perfect as possible (heavily salted with perfectionism and “OCD”), and then I had to wait and see the teacher’s/professor’s response, so I prioritized this as one of the things I would always do: give prompt feedback on a regular basis.

That all said, both “apologies” started a flurry of verbal and email responses resembling – “No need to apologize. I’m still waiting for something I turned in on-line 3 weeks ago.” or “Do you realize how much in the minority you are in caring about getting our grades back so soon?” and “Thank you for warning me that I didn’t need to hover over the computer – you’re usually so fast that I literally refresh for hours after the test!”

It made me feel great that I was making them happy and keeping them relatively sane in a stressful college environment. Even if their grades weren’t what they hoped they’d be, they were still grateful to get that information ASAP. I was surprised and a little sad to hear prompt feedback isn’t a common practice. But on the other hand it was nice to hear how awesome I am. 🙂

[And that’s why my post is later than it should be. My post lost to finishing grading and going to 2000 meetings this week. LOL] . Have a great weekend!

 

2 thoughts on “Feedback frenzy”

  1. I’m a “get them prompt feedback and grades” kind of person, too. I’m in a class now where I wait up to a month for grades to come back. And it’s an 8-week class! So frustrating.

     
  2. I promise my students within a week, but I try to get them back ASAP. I have been in classes that take too long and it is definitely frustrating! Kudos for your fast feedback to your students! 🙂

     

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