The Science of Feedback By Staci Yutzie Feedback is an essential component in police training. It is one of the most powerful tools a trainer can use to increase learning and improve performance in a trainee. However, feedback does not always lead to a positive outcome, and when misused, it can degrade the performance of the trainee. Unfortunately, giving good feedback is a skill that is often overlooked when training our trainers. Research tells us that only one-third of feedback is helpful, one-third has no effect, and one-third results in adverse effects. This might seem shocking, considering the amount of feedback trainers provide daily. The question is: how can trainers ensure that their feedback is part of the one-third that is helpful? Improving trainees’ performance through practice requires feedback. The type of feedback and how it is delivered matters. The purpose of feedback is to guide the trainee’s future behavior, but often, feedback falls into one of the following ineffective traps. The first is that the feedback is too vague, “You did that wrong,” “That was good,” or worse, “Did you even learn anything?” Effective feedback is specific. It focuses on the particular aspects of the performance that need improvement rather than a generic evaluation of the performance. Effective feedback avoids abstract praise or discouragement. Additionally, feedback focused on the task contributes to improved performance, but feedback directed at the person contributes to adverse effects. The second is that the feedback is too much, i.e., “Ten things you did wrong” rather than prioritized. Too much feedback is not helpful; it overwhelms the trainee. It fails to communicate which aspects of their performance deviate most from the goal and where they should focus their future efforts. Effective feedback requires thinking carefully about what information will be most helpful to trainees at a particular time and limiting areas of focus to three to five items. A quick distinction: feedback and instruction are not the same thing. Effective trainers need to be able to diagnose what individual trainees need in a particular setting and direct their feedback at appropriate levels for individual trainees. Trainees who do not know enough about a topic need instruction, not feedback. A third trap is that trainers jump too soon to intervene or correct trainee behaviors. This could be the stereotypical yelling “Wrong!” as a trainee reaches for the door handle. While this restraint may feel counterintuitive, intervening too soon takes away the opportunity for trainees to learn to recognize and repair their own errors, a critical skill in the field. This also requires a diagnosis from trainers regarding the best time to intervene. Immediate error correction during the learning stage can be helpful, but immediate error correction during the fluency-building stage can prevent the learner from developing automaticity (the ability to complete the task without having to think through each component). Effective timing of feedback delivery should allow the trainee the opportunity to recognize and correct their own mistakes, allowing them to become independent and self-regulated learners. […]
The Science of Feedback – Dr. Staci Yutzie
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