The Challenge of Providing High-Quality Feedback Online: Building a Culture of Continuous Improvement in an Online Course for Adult Learners

Abstract

abstract:Scholars of online learning have acknowledged the additional challenges an online format poses to relationship building and providing effective feedback. This article describes the authors' experiences providing feedback to adult learners in an online educational leadership course, the challenges they encountered in providing this feedback in a timeframe and manner to which students were receptive, and their research into how to build a culture of continuous improvement in an online course for adult learners. The authors conclude that effective online feedback occurs when course projects are sequenced to provide opportunities for students to receive and engage with feedback formatively, when instructors set clear expectations about feedback timelines, and when instructors take advantage of the variety of feedback mechanisms online environments can provide, including peer and instructor feedback, as well as self-reflection.