Trailblazing Education: Touching Students' Lives Through Feedback

In a bustling high school classroom, stacks of essays are piled high on the educator's desk like a looming mountain. With deadlines fast approaching, the task of providing meaningful feedback seemed daunting. Meanwhile, the students awaited the return of their essays, wondering “Did I do well? Did I meet my teacher’s expectations?” These persistent doubts gnaw at their self-esteem, leaving them in a state of uncertainty.

This scenario highlights the critical role of feedback in education, illustrating the challenges faced by both educators and students. Feedback is essential for providing a roadmap for improvement and boosting students' self-esteem. However, the task of delivering meaningful feedback can be daunting for educators, who must balance this responsibility with their other institutional duties. The pressure to provide timely feedback adds to the complexity, as students eagerly await guidance on their performance.

In response to the dual challenges of educators struggling to provide timely feedback and students' need for immediate responses, an innovative educational tool has emerged: Process Feedback. This tool turns a student’s writing or coding work into a process report. This report goes beyond simply presenting the student's work; it includes comprehensive statistics and visual charts that illuminate the behind-the-scenes process of the student. For instance, the report provides a summary of the total time spent on the task, the number of copy-paste events, playback of the typing, the evolution of text structure, and the percentage of time dedicated to revising the typed text. In the case of coding work, the report also includes process information such as code execution history and outputs of the program, all in a single report. With this data, students can engage in self-reflection, and more importantly, they can share the PDF version of their report with their teachers.

But wait! Doesn't this mean that educators, already burdened with numerous responsibilities, now have an additional report to review? How does the process report actually benefit them? The answer lies in the streamlined access to essential information that the teachers need. By glancing at the process report, within seconds, a teacher can discern critical data such as the amount of time the student spent on the task and the frequency of their text revisions. If a student has copied content from elsewhere and spent only a minute completing the work, this becomes immediately apparent to the teacher. Without such a report, the teacher would have to engage in extensive back-and-forth reviews to evaluate each student’s work thoroughly and ascertain whether the student's work merits praise or further scrutiny. On the other hand, seeing that a student devoted three hours to an assignment can evoke a sense of respect in the teacher, encouraging them to approach the student's work with greater humility.

Process Feedback, however, is not primarily designed as a tool for detecting plagiarism. In an era dominated by generative AI, it's important to acknowledge that no automated plagiarism detection system can guarantee complete accuracy. Human judgment, particularly that of educators, still remains the most reliable method for identifying plagiarism. While the tool certainly discourages plagiarism by promoting original thinking among students, its true value extends far beyond merely identifying copied content. 

A process report serves as a powerful tool with dual benefits. For teachers, it provides comprehensive summary statistics that enable both quick and thorough grading, thereby transforming the grading process into a more insightful and engaging experience. Simultaneously, by unveiling their own processes to students, the report promotes self-discovery. Creating such a platform for self-reflection encourages students to adopt a broader perspective, cultivating meta-cognitive skills and self-awareness. Transparency about their processes also earns students recognition for their efforts.  The true advantage of employing such a process-oriented tool lies in the synergy between self-directed learning and teacher guidance. As students take ownership of their learning through self-reflection, teachers gain more time to support each student in unlocking their full potential.

One might inquire whether there is scientific evidence supporting the effectiveness of process feedback. The answer is a resounding yes, with one recent study standing out as particularly impressive. Published in the journal Written Communication, the research involved sixty-five Dutch tenth-grade students who were asked to write essays three times over a week. [Written Communication (2022)] After each writing session, they received feedback on their process and spent about 30 minutes reflecting on it. They were guided through this reflection with several simple questions. The results were astonishing. In just one week, the quality of the students' writing improved to a level that would typically take a year to achieve. This study demonstrates the remarkable potential of process feedback to accelerate learning and improve performance.

Having (hopefully) convinced you that Process Feedback is a valuable resource for educators and students alike, let's shift our focus to its accessibility. Process Feedback stands out as one of the most user-friendly tools available. It also eliminates the necessity for students to sign up or create an account, allowing them to use it immediately. This simplicity alleviates concerns about forgetting passwords, offering a hassle-free experience for students. Additionally, if an academic institution already has a learning management system, Process Feedback integrates seamlessly with systems worldwide. The only requirement is for students to submit their work as a PDF file, which is a format supported by most existing systems. For teachers, the process is equally straightforward: all they need to do is ask their students to submit their process report files. Best of all, Process Feedback is completely free for both educators and students to use.

Process Feedback has a profound impact on students. By analyzing their work processes, students start to see challenges as opportunities to learn and grow. This shift in perspective supports not only their academic success but also the development of lifelong learning skills that are crucial for personal and professional growth. With the help of Process Feedback, students engage in ongoing reflection, receive feedback, and make improvements. This process helps them develop important skills and habits that go beyond the classroom. By using the tool consistently, students gain a deeper understanding of how they learn, which contributes to their overall intellectual growth.

As the academic semester progresses and students become familiar with using Process Feedback, a noticeable transformation unfolds in the classroom. The once daunting stacks of essays now represent a journey of growth and development. With Process Feedback integrated into the educational process, both educators and students are equipped with valuable insights and opportunities for improvement. The return of essays is now met with curiosity and determination. Students, armed with a deeper understanding and personalized guidance, approach their work with newfound confidence.

Authors: Abhigya Singh and Badri Adhikari
Image credits: Subodh Dahal (not AI)