Revise and use feedback
Understanding Instructor Feedback
Use this page when you get a graded assignment back and want to know what your instructor is asking you to change.
What feedback is for
Feedback is information about your work: what is working, and what to change. Your grade tells you how the work did. Your feedback tells you how to make the next work better.
- Many comments are normal. A long list of comments does not mean your work is bad. It means your instructor read it carefully.
- Comments are about the work, not about you. Every writer, including your instructor, gets feedback.
- Feedback is part of the course. Instructors expect you to read it and use it in your next draft or assignment.
- Feedback:
- comments on your work that help you improve it.
- Inline comment:
- a comment in your document, next to the exact words it is about. It is also called an annotation.
- Revise:
- to change your writing to make it better, especially its ideas and organization.
- Edit:
- to correct smaller things, such as grammar, spelling, and punctuation.
Where to find your feedback in Blackboard
Your feedback can be in four places. Many students read only the grade and miss the rest. Check all four. Where each one appears depends on the kind of assignment. If you cannot find your feedback, ask your instructor where to look.
| Kind | Where it is | What it is good for |
|---|---|---|
| Overall feedback | With your grade on the assignment. | Your instructor’s main points about the whole assignment. Read this first. |
| Inline comments | Inside your submitted file. Open the file to see them. Comments appear next to highlighted words. | The exact sentence or paragraph each comment is about. Most English courses use these often. |
| Rubric comments | In the rubric, next to each criterion. | Which part of the rubric each comment is about, and the level you earned. |
| Recorded feedback | A video or audio player in the overall feedback. | Your instructor’s voice and tone, and the main ideas. |
Inline comments are easy to miss. If your instructor says “see my comments on your paper,” open your submitted file, not only the grade. On a phone, the comments can be hard to read. Use a computer if you can.
Recorded feedback: three tools that help
Hearing feedback can feel more personal than reading it. That is normal. Your instructor chose a recording to help you, and these tools make it easier to use:
- Captions. Select the captions button, a small square in the player, to see the words as your instructor speaks.
- Playback speed. Select the three-dot menu, then Playback speed. A slower speed, such as 0.75, can make the recording easier to follow.
- Transcript. In the same three-dot menu, select Transcript to read the whole recording as text. You can come back to one point without playing the whole video.
Captions and transcripts are made by a computer, so they can have small errors. If a word does not make sense, listen to that part again.
Short comments and marks
Inline comments are often very short. Many instructors use abbreviations. Here are common ones. Your instructor may use different marks, so check the syllabus, or ask.
| Mark | Means | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| awk | awkward | The sentence is hard to read. Say it more simply. |
| frag | fragment | The sentence is incomplete. See Sentence boundaries. |
| RO / CS | run-on / comma splice | Two sentences are joined incorrectly. See Sentence boundaries. |
| agr / SV | agreement / subject-verb | The verb does not match its subject. See Subject-verb agreement. |
| vt / t | verb tense | The tense changes without a reason. See Verb tense. |
| art | article | Add, remove, or change a, an, or the. See Articles. |
| ww / wc | wrong word / word choice | The word does not fit the meaning. Look it up, or ask. |
| cite | citation needed | Say where this idea or fact came from. |
| ¶ | new paragraph | Start a new paragraph here. |
| ? | unclear | The reader did not understand. Explain more clearly. |
Example: overall feedback
Here is an instructor’s overall feedback on a first draft. Each number matches a note below.
Your topic is interesting, and your personal example in paragraph 2 is strong.1 You might consider stating your main point in the first paragraph.2 I wonder if your third paragraph belongs in this essay.3 Watch your verb tenses when you describe last summer; I marked three examples.4 This is a good start.5
- What is working. Keep this in your next draft.
- A request, worded politely. You might consider sounds optional, but it usually means: please do this.
- A request, worded as a thought. I wonder if usually means: I do not think this paragraph fits. Remove it, or explain how it connects.
- A pattern. The instructor marked three examples, not every error. Fix those three, then find the others yourself.
- Encouragement, and a signal. The draft is on the right track, and it still needs revision.
Language focus: polite requests in feedback
When a suggestion is really a request
Many U.S. instructors soften their feedback to be kind. They write a request as a suggestion, a question, or a thought. Read these phrases as requests unless your instructor says they are optional.
| The comment says | It usually means |
|---|---|
| You might consider adding an example. | Add an example. |
| It would help to explain this more. | Explain this more. |
| I wonder if this paragraph fits. | This paragraph may not belong. Remove it or connect it. |
| What do you mean here? | This part is unclear. Rewrite it so a reader understands. |
| Could you say more about this? | Add more explanation or detail here. |
| Have you thought about the other side? | Discuss an opposing view. |
A question in your feedback, such as “What do you mean here?”, usually does not need an answer to your instructor. It needs a change in your writing. If you are not sure, ask.
Make a revision plan
Feedback from four places can feel like a lot. Put it in one list. Then work from the list, starting at the top.
- Read the overall feedback first. Write down your instructor’s main points.
- Read the rubric comments. Add any point you do not have yet.
- Read the inline comments. Group them. Five comments about verb tense are one item: “fix verb tense.”
- Put the big changes first. Revise ideas and organization before you edit grammar. A paragraph you remove does not need its grammar fixed.
Sentence starters
Use these for your revision plan and for questions to your instructor. Fill in each blank with your own words.
- For your planMy instructor wants me to .First, I will . Then I will .
- To ask about a commentIn your comment on paragraph , you wrote “.” Could you tell me what I should change?
- To check your understandingI think your comment means that I should . Is that right?
Practice
- Your instructor wrote “You might consider adding a source here.” What should you do?
- You see frag next to a sentence. What is the problem?
- Your grade appears in Blackboard, with one line of overall feedback: “See my comments on your paper.” Where are the comments?
- Your feedback includes these three items. Which should you work on first?
- A. Several article errors in paragraph 3.
- B. Your thesis does not answer the prompt.
- C. One spelling error.
Show suggested answers
- Add a source. You might consider is a polite way to make a request.
- The sentence is incomplete. It is missing a subject, a verb, or a complete idea. See Sentence boundaries.
- Inside your submitted file. Open the file you turned in. The comments appear next to highlighted words.
- B. A thesis that does not answer the prompt affects the whole essay. Fix the big changes first, then edit grammar and spelling.
Next step
The next time you get feedback
- Check all four places: overall feedback, inline comments, the rubric, and any recording.
- Write one revision plan, with the big changes first.
- Read polite suggestions as requests.
- If you do not understand a comment, ask your instructor or a tutor. Bring the comment with you.