23 Automated

Automated feedback is feedback designed by the course developer, but triggered for students by an automated process. It is a wonderful tool to use to direct student learning for lower-order thinking concerns. If you find yourself regularly providing very similar feedback to most of your students, then it may make sense for you to consider using a tool to automate this loop.

Learning management systems like Moodle often incorporate feedback options into tools like quizzes. Instead of creating a multiple-choice quiz that just identifies right and wrong answers, you can use feedback to explain why a particular answer is right or wrong. This takes a bit more time upfront, but it can save you from providing this feedback over and over, either verbally or by email. Short explanations help students to understand the gaps in their thinking, and help to guide their performance. When these explanations are triggered by an action (like submitting a quiz or posting an assessment), then students get feedback right away, when they need it most.

Automated feedback can sometimes also come from sources like textbook supplementary materials. If your textbook comes with electronic resources, these may include, for example, a test bank with feedback built-in. We highly recommend you take the time to review these resources. Often, they are well-developed and ready-made. This is an easy way to add more feedback for your students without adding to your workload.