Concrete Examples Of Better Feedback For Learning

by Grant Wiggins with a new introduction by TeachThought Staff

Originally published in 2012. Updated in 2026 for clarity and additional information

Learning feedback is information that helps students improve while learning is still in progress.

It differs from evaluation—grades or scores—which summarize performance after the opportunity to revise has largely passed. Feedback influences learning only when it helps students understand what counts as quality, where their work currently stands, and what to do next.

The examples below show how learning feedback operates in real classrooms. They are not templates or strategies to replicate, but examples where feedback is embedded into tasks, routines, and classroom norms. In many cases, the feedback does not come directly from the teacher, but through comparison to standards, reflection, etc.

Each example includes a brief note identifying the feedback signal, the information students receive to guide, direct, redirect, and otherwise support them.

Examples of Learning Feedback in Practice

1. In a welding class, the teacher gives students a performance task. The work is done when it is ‘up to professional welding standards’ for that type of weld. The students receive a description of the standard in writing, with a drawing. But the key is the last phase. “When you think your weld is up to standard, put it on this table, and sign it with the magic marker – signifying it is up to standard.”

On the table students will also find some welds up to standard from previous years and some that are not, marked as such. I watched a boy who thought his was ready. But upon getting to the table and closely inspecting all the welds on the table, he went back to his station (having realized his was not up to standard) to work further.

Feedback signal: The student compares their work against visible professional standards and peer exemplars, independently identifies a gap in quality, and chooses to revise before any evaluation occurs.

2. A 6th-grade teacher of writing teaches his students to peer review and self-assess. All papers after that training only go to him for final review after the paper has first gone through the review process.

The cover sheet states the purpose and audience of the writing, and the student asks for targeted feedback. The peer group reads and notes places where purpose was best achieved and not achieved, and marks places where they lost interest, explaining why orally to the writer. The writer decides which feedback (and advice) to accept or reject, revises the paper, and attaches a self-assessment explaining those decisions before submitting the work.

Feedback signal: Peers provide descriptive information aligned to purpose and audience, which the writer evaluates, selects from, and documents through revision and self-assessment.

3. In a class of 1st graders, pairs must create a simple map of the whole school, with concentration on a map of a room in the building. The map’s success is assessed, in part, by other students’ ability to use the map to find something, using the map key and compass rose. After each team has had others use their map, students self-assess using simple prompts to reflect how helpful and clear their map was.

Feedback signal: Students receive feedback through peers’ ability to use their maps successfully, then self-assess clarity and usefulness against simple criteria before improvement.

4. After a short summary by a Physics professor, college students in a class of 175 respond to a multiple-choice question focused on a common misconception. Students vote using their phones, see the results in real time, discuss answers in small groups, re-vote, and rate their confidence before the correct answer is revealed.

Feedback signal: Students receive immediate, aggregated information about understanding and confidence, use peer discussion to test ideas, and recalibrate thinking before evaluation.

5. 7th graders prepare and deliver a videotaped oral editorial about pollution. They review recordings alongside model videos, self-assess using rubrics, propose revisions, and deliver the speech again. The rubric emphasizes the quality of self-assessment and deliberate revision.

Feedback signal: Students compare recorded performance to models and criteria, identify specific areas for improvement, and revise before final judgment.

6. Twice a week, 9th-grade English students participate in student-run discussions. The teacher visually records participation patterns and behaviors, then shares this information with students at the end of the discussion.

Feedback signal: Students receive descriptive, visual information about discussion behaviors, allowing them to adjust participation in future discussions.

7. 5th graders complete social studies tasks using three rubrics: product quality, research quality, and independence. Students self-score before submission, and part of their grade reflects the accuracy of their self-assessment compared to peer and teacher judgments.

Feedback signal: Students receive feedback by comparing their self-assessments to external judgments, improving accuracy in evaluating both performance and independence.

8. 4th graders complete a computer-based math quiz, receive immediate correctness feedback, use hints to correct errors, and see how many clues were needed and the difficulty level of problems.

Feedback signal: Students receive immediate correctness information and scaffolded support, enabling error correction during learning rather than after grading.

9. In middle school art class, students regularly critique each other’s work using criteria and purpose identified by the artist, following a structured critique protocol.

Feedback signal: Students receive criterion-referenced peer feedback aligned to artistic intent, which informs refinement of future work.

10. At halftime during soccer games, players analyze performance by answering descriptive questions about what is working and not working, then adjust strategies immediately and revisit the analysis in practice.

Feedback signal: Players analyze performance descriptively, identify patterns of success and breakdown, and adjust tactics while performance is ongoing.

11. In a 4th-grade writing class, exemplar papers are placed on an archery target based on quality. Students study placements, then position their own work and receive peer confirmation or correction.

Feedback signal: Students compare work spatially against exemplars, justify judgments of quality, and receive peer feedback before evaluation.

12. 8th graders participate in a UN development grant simulation, receiving feedback from peers, models of past work, and trained adult judges throughout the process.

Feedback signal: Students receive iterative peer and expert feedback aligned to criteria, informing revision and strategy during the simulation.

13. Every Friday, 6th graders respond to prompts about what worked and what didn’t during the week. Teachers summarize patterns and make instructional adjustments the following week.

Feedback signal: Student feedback informs instructional adjustment, creating a feedback loop that shapes subsequent learning conditions.

This article was originally published on Grant’s blog