Post by Tom Daccord
A recent national report by the Watson Foundation found that teachers are using ChatGPT more than students and are using it to create new lesson ideas. To help out all of our teacher friends, we are offering a series of posts focused on practical ways that you can use ChatGPT to assist with your own lesson design! Each post will focus on a practical strategy for using ChatGPT and will include ideas for both elementary and secondary school teachers. Here is the tenth part of our series:
#10 Feedback
Why ChatGPT for Feedback?
By leveraging ChatGPT, teachers can enhance the feedback process, provide personalized guidance, and support students in the learning process. Teachers can leverage ChatGPT to formulate feedback on student work or allow students to receive feedback from ChatGPT on their own. ChatGPT can generate feedback that is tailored to individual needs and teachers can input assessment criteria to target specific areas for feedback.
How to use ChatGPT for Feedback
First, define and communicate the guidelines and expectations for feedback to ChatGPT to ensure that it provides constructive and helpful responses. Think about what context might be necessary to include — ex. course level, curriculum topic, students age– to ensure that the responses are appropriate for the level and abilities of your students. In addition, include specific criteria for evaluating student work and those aspects that ChatGPT should focus on in its feedback.
It’s very helpful to provide ChatGPT with sample assignments and samples of student work to help identify areas for feedback. These can include essays, short answers, math problem solutions, science experiment reports, or any other relevant student output. Ideally, these samples will include both examples of “correct” or desirable responses and “incorrect” or undesirable responses. Finally, it’s best to provide ChatGPT with a feedback prompt that is specific to the assignment and based on the samples you have provided.
ChatGPT can provide feedback that guides students towards a correct or desirable response without explicitly revealing the correct answer. ChatGPT can offer hints, ask probing questions, or provide general guidance to steer the student in the right direction. So, if you desire “guided” feedback that doesn’t immediately reveal the correct answer, tell ChatGPT as much in your feedback prompt.
ChatGPT Feedback Examples
The following are short examples of feedback that provide a “correct” answer or desirable solution.
- World Language
Student Work: “Je suis allé à la parc hier.”
Feedback Prompt: “Provide feedback on the student’s sentence in French: “Je suis allé à la parc hier.” The course is French 1 and the student is learning the passé composé.”
Feedback: “Nice attempt! However, in French, ‘parc’ is masculine, so it should be ‘au parc.’ Also, ‘hier’ should be placed after the verb. Keep up the good work!”
- Essay Feedback
Student Work: (extended essay)
Feedback Prompt: “Provide feedback on the following essay written by a 12th grade student for a United States history course. In particular, focus on the correct use of grammar, including run-on sentences, mixed metaphors, and punctuation.
Feedback: “In the opening sentence, consider revising it to separate the list of issues using commas and make the structure clearer: : [“…”] In the second sentence, there is a run-on sentence. Consider breaking it into two or more sentences: [“…”]
In the paragraph about Jackie Robinson, there are a few issues with punctuation and sentence structure. Consider revising as follows: [“…”] In the paragraph about “To Kill a Mockingbird,” there is an incorrect sentence structure. Consider revising as follows: [“…”] In the paragraph about “The Star Bellied Sneetches,” there are no significant grammar or punctuation issues. However, consider clarifying the connection between this story and the essay’s theme of equality.
Overall, the essay shows a good understanding of the theme of equality and references relevant examples. Pay attention to sentence structure, run-on sentences, and the correct use of punctuation to enhance the clarity and readability of the essay.”
Examples of “guided” feedback:
Prompt: “For the following problems provide feedback without actually telling the user what the correct answer is. In other words, provide feedback that guides a student towards a “correct” or desirable response (in steps or stages) without immediately revealing what is the “correct” or desirable response.”
- Algebra 2
Problem: Simplify the expression (3x^2 + 4x – 2) + (2x^2 – 5x + 3).
Feedback: “You’re on the right track! To simplify the expression, combine like terms. Pay attention to the coefficients and the exponents of the variables. How can you group similar terms together and simplify the expression further?”
- Spanish 3
Prompt: Write a paragraph comparing two famous Spanish-speaking artists.
Feedback: “You’ve covered some important points! To enhance your paragraph, try using comparative language to highlight similarities and differences between the artists:
“Al igual que [artist A], [artist B] también se destaca por…”
“Tanto [artist A] como [artist B] comparten la característica de…”
“A diferencia de [artist A], [artist B] se distingue por…”
“Contrario a [artist A], [artist B] presenta una perspectiva distinta en…”
- ESL class:
a. Prompt: Write a paragraph describing your favorite holiday.
Feedback: “Great start! To provide more details, try including adjectives to describe the holiday. For example: “My favorite holiday is Christmas. Revised sentence with adjectives: “My favorite holiday is Christmas because of its joyful atmosphere, cozy traditions, and heartwarming celebrations.” Explanation: By adding descriptive adjectives such as “joyful,” “cozy,” and “heartwarming,” the sentence provides more details and paints a vivid picture of why Christmas is the favorite holiday.
Just keep in mind that ChatGPT may not always respond exactly as you expect. However, with a bit of creativity and guidance, ChatGPT can be a useful and engaging tool for generating helpful feedback for your students!
–by Tom Daccord, with help from ChatGPT
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