Critical thinking is the ability to make judgments, evaluate assumptions, and offer reasoned arguments. Whether classifying matter in science based on its physical properties, presenting claims and findings in English, or interpreting sets of data in mathematics, students must think critically.
One essential pathway for developing critical thinking is student-generated feedback. When students give and receive feedback from one another—and are guided by rubrics and procedures to structure that feedback—both sides benefit. The student receiving feedback can revise and strengthen their work, and the student providing feedback can internalize indicators of what quality work looks like. In doing so, they both think more critically about the work at hand.
Benefits of Student-Led Feedback
In student-led feedback, students actively provide and assess feedback on their own learning and that of their peers. When combined with traditional teacher-driven feedback, peer feedback fosters student responsibility and ownership, improving learning by promoting deeper engagement and understanding. Peer feedback empowers learners: Discussions between peers foster self-regulation, metacognition, and ownership over learning. Students become more motivated when they are actively involved in their learning process. Regular use of peer feedback builds critical thinking and communication skills, especially in developing students’ ability to critically assess and articulate their thoughts. Finally, the use of student-led feedback creates a more collaborative, respectful, and supportive classroom environment.
Implementing Feedback in the Classroom
Students don’t inherently know how to provide quality feedback to one another. In fact, many of us have overheard students mumble something like, “Uh . . . I liked your story. And you should capitalize your sentences.” Educators can address students’ discomfort with critiquing peers—often rooted in fears of disrupting social relationships—by fostering a culture of trust in the classroom.
Model how to receive feedback by inviting students to practice giving feedback to you. In the video that accompanies this column, elementary visual arts specialist Courtney Watson at Concourse Village Elementary School in New York City, models TAG Feedback, a critique process focused on three elements:
- T: Tell something you like
- A: Ask a thoughtful question
- G: Give a suggestion
Her art students first critique a drawing she has done, then create their own. Next, they provide feedback to one another. And, while this is a process many of her students have been engaged with since kindergarten, it is still crucial to model and teach peer feedback processes for use in different classrooms.
Peer feedback builds critical thinking and communication skills, developing students’ ability to assess and articulate their thoughts.
Structuring the Feedback
To set students up for success, structure their feedback using a rubric or checklist to guide their critical thinking and feedback delivery. Keep in mind what it is that most of us want out of feedback: to know what we did well, what and how to improve, and advice for next time. Consider this structured feedback, taken from a conversation we witnessed in a chemistry class where students were designing their own experiments:
- What did I do well? “The data sample you chose for this science investigation matched your research question.” (Indicate specific examples in the work.)
- What can I improve? “You’re missing a hypothesis statement. That is going to strengthen your experiment because it means you have thought about what may possibly happen.” (Flag errors and provide corrective feedback.)
- How do I improve? “We can talk about that. What do you think is going to happen or not happen when you perform this experiment? I’ll make some notes for you about what you say.” (Make suggestions and provide examples.)
- What do I do next time? “Sometimes talking an idea out with someone else can get you noticing your own thinking.” (Add feedback that promotes critical thinking and self-evaluation.)
These feedback questions mirror those reported by Mandouit and Hattie, derived from interviews with high school students about the kinds of feedback they find to be most useful as learners.
Providing Feedback About the Feedback
The teacher’s role in student-led feedback includes guiding, monitoring, and supporting the feedback process to ensure quality. Without oversight and teacher feedback about students’ feedback, student growth in critical thinking can stall. In his article on peer feedback, 6th grade teacher Justin Hui describes a feedback system he calls Helping Hands to strengthen the quality of student-led feedback on a writing assignment. Hui describes four levels of feedback (with examples) that he and his students use to evaluate the quality of their feedback about each other’s writing.
- Level 1: “It was neat.” Feedback lacks detail. No direction for improvement or explanation of why it is effective.
- Level 2: “You used lots of periods and capital letters. Try using other punctuation.” Limited detail. No explanation for why punctuation is important. Doesn’t help improve the content of the writing.
- Level 3: “Try putting the summary into your own words because it will sound better.” Feedback uses success criteria to give ideas for improvement.
- Level 4: “Put your summary into your own words. Talk out your ideas first and then write them like you’re telling someone. For example . . .” Explains how to improve it. Uses success criteria. Gives an example or suggestion. All ideas give directions for improvement.
As Helping Hands became a regular practice, Hui noted that the students were more confident in giving and receiving feedback, resulting in more thoughtful work.
Deepening Critical Thinking
Student-led feedback holds the potential for deepening critical thinking and reflective evaluation. Model what it looks like and sounds like to receive feedback, and provide specific feedback procedures so that students are guided in how to make the most of the feedback process. Importantly, promote critical thinking by teaching key quality indicators of feedback so that students grow in their knowledge of the how and the why of good feedback.
Video Reflection: Student-Led Feedback in Action
After watching the video, take the following steps to reflect on how you can use student-led feedback in your own classroom.
- What successes and challenges have you faced when using student-led feedback?
- Why do you believe Ms. Watson models and demonstrates feedback with her own work? What did you notice about the feedback she gave about the feedback she received from her students?
- These students are practiced at providing and receiving feedback. Notice that they engage in discussion and later write their session reflection. How do these processes (discussion and reflection) support critical thinking?
- Talk with colleagues in your subject area or grade level about how they use student-led feedback in their classrooms. Could this be a new initiative for your team?
