Assignment Feedback

A computer helping a child with their assignment Let’s start work on a practical exercise that will demonstrate how GenAI tools can become your personal assignment pre-submission feedback partner. In this hands-on activity, you’ll explore how to effectively provide a GenAI tool with assignment instructions along with your completed assignment to give you custom feedback. We’ll then explore specific prompts you can use to gain valuable insights into whether you’ve fully addressed all aspects of the assignment and to receive targeted suggestions for enhancing the clarity and quality of your writing.

The use GenAI tools for self-assessment is encouraged by UVic’s department of Learning and Teaching Support and Innovation (LTSI). Here is a quote from LTSI on their Teach Anywhere website: “The use of GAITs for self-assessment is encouraged” (LTSI, 2024.

NOTE: If one of your professors does not allow the use of GenAI for any aspect of an assignment, then the only use permitted by UVic in that case is to use GenAI for assignment feedback after you’ve completed a draft of the assignment and -NOT- for use in any other way to assist in completing the assignment.
Note 2: Some professors may allow a limited use of GenAI in Assignment completing, in which case you could also use GenAI for assignment feedback.

If you have any questions or get stuck as you work through this in-class GenAI exercise, please ask the instructor for assistance. Have fun!

A Text Only Assignment Example

Let’s Get Started

  1. If you haven’t already, in your favourite web browser please open either Perplexity.ai (no account required) -OR- Microsoft Copilot.
  2. We need two things in order to request feedback on an assignment you’re ready to submit. You can use your own completed assignment and assignment instructions from your instructor -OR- you can use the following sample completed assignment and assignment instructions:
    • Assignment instructions:
      • Include a concise summary of the technologies, teaching methods, or topics from this week’s class that you are reflecting on or commenting on;
      • Your post demonstrates a critical reflection on the technologies, or teaching methods, including (but not limited to): possible benefits & drawbacks, age appropriateness, possible or actual privacy & security issues, and possible equity issues;
      • Utilize social writing strategies such as hyperlinks to blog posts (e.g., trackbacks) or to articles/resources consulted, including web pages, images, videos, etc.
    • Sample completed assignment text: “Coming back from spring break, I felt ready to dive back into the semester and finish strong as I work toward completing my degree. This week, our class focused on annotation and curation, especially using digital tools like Zotero and Hypothes.is. Hypothes.is, in particular, acts as a group annotation plugin, encouraging more social engagement and personal input from peers. This is a contrast to the typical web model that relies on anonymity and aggregated information. The feature that allows users to rank and comment on content adds a new layer of perspective—rather than being guided by an algorithm’s hidden logic, the experience feels more collaborative and transparent, almost like a form of crowd-sourced insight. Zotero, on the other hand, is a helpful resource for organizing and storing sources. It’s especially useful for managing references during large writing projects like essays or research papers. While I personally may not continue using it—since I’ve been comfortable with citation generators and managing my sources manually—it was still valuable to explore. Overall, both tools gave me a better sense of what’s out there in terms of browser extensions that support academic work.”

What Kind Of Feedback Do You Want?

Now we’ll bring together the prompt instructions, the assignment instructions, and the completed assignment text.

  1. First, let’s determine the type of feedback you would like. It helps to be specific about what kind of feedback you are looking for. For example, you could ask for feedback on:
    • How well it addresses the assignment instructions
    • Clarity and coherence
    • Accuracy of information
    • Areas for improvement
  2. Here’s the feedback we’ll ask for. Copy and paste this text into the chatbox of your favourite GenAI tool, but don’t press enter on your keyboard yet: I'd like feedback on an assignment I've completed including, how well I address the assignment instructions, for clarity and coherence, and please provide a bullet point list for areas of improvement.
  3. Copy and paste the assignment instructions into the chatbox after the feedback text you just gave it: Assignment instructions: Include a concise summary of the technologies, teaching methods, or topics from this week's class that you are reflecting on or commenting on; Your post demonstrates a critical reflection on the technologies, or teaching methods, including (but not limited to): possible benefits & drawbacks, age appropriateness, possible or actual privacy & security issues, and possible equity issues; Utilize social writing strategies such as hyperlinks to blog posts (e.g., trackbacks) or to articles/resources consulted, including web pages, images, videos, etc.
  4. Copy and paste the assignment text into the chatbox after the assignment instructions text you just gave it: Returning from spring break I felt prepared to continue through the semester and finish my degree on a high note. This week our class touched on annotation and curation, specifically working with some digital tools that aid with annotations like zotero and hypothes.is. The latter functions as a group annotation plug-in, allowing more social interaction and personal feedback and information from others rather than the popular model of anonymity and compilation/conglomeration of sources on the regular web. The ability to rank information gives a different perspective on what’s being presented to you. Rather than an algorithm carefully picking which information to feed you, it feels more crowdsourced and objective instead of a viewpoint being forced upon you. Zotero is a tool that helps organize and save sources being used in most capacities. The ability to keep track of sources being used when writing a lengthy essay or research paper can be very helpful. Overall it’s not one I will likely use going forward as I haven’t had any issues with citation generators and tracking sources myself. Overall they were both helpful to learn and broaden my understanding of what is available in terms of browser extensions.

    Submitting assignment instructions and the assignment for GenAI feedback
  5. Press the Enter key on your keyboard to submit your request. Here is the feedback from Microsoft Copilot (your feedback should be similar, but phrased somewhat differently):
    Submitting assignment instructions and the assignment for GenAI feedback
  6. Review your GenAI tool’s Feedback. Read the feedback carefully for potential errors and omissions.
    • Has it suggested to add things from the assignment instructions that you missed?
    • Can you see any mistakes that it’s made?
    • Has it suggested any areas of improvement? Are they good suggestions?
    • Have you found the GenAI feedback useful overall?

Follow-up Questions or Prompts

  1. If needed, you can ask follow-up questions of your GenAI tool. You can engage in a dialogue to clarify suggestions or ask it to expand on something.
  2. Revise Your Work. Upon critical reflection for each suggestion, use the feedback of the good suggestions as the basis for revising and improving your assignment before submitting it. NOTE: You are not copying or pasting anything from the suggestions but are using the suggestions as inspiration to revise your assignment text in your own words.

A Mixed-Media Assignment Example

Let’s Get Started

  1. If you haven’t already, in your favourite web browser please open either Perplexity.ai (no account required) -OR- Microsoft Copilot.
  2. We need two things in order to request feedback on an assignment you’re ready to submit:
    • Download sample completed assignment (Please note where the sample assignment PDF file downloads on your computer)
    • Assignment instructions:
      • Include a concise summary of the technologies, teaching methods, or topics from this week’s class that you are reflecting on or commenting on;
      • Employ a multimedia strategy for your post by using text and one or more other media to enrich your post and help make it more engaging (e.g., screencast, podcast, video, sketchnote, image, infographics, or other formats);
      • Your post demonstrates a critical reflection on the technologies, or teaching methods, including (but not limited to): possible benefits & drawbacks, age appropriateness, possible or actual privacy & security issues, and possible equity issues;
      • Utilize social writing strategies such as hyperlinks to blog posts (e.g., trackbacks) or to articles/resources consulted, including web pages, images, videos, etc.

What Kind Of Feedback Do You Want?

  1. Determine the Type of Feedback You Need. Be specific about what kind of feedback you are looking for. For example, you could ask for feedback on:
    • How well it addresses the assignment instructions
    • Clarity and coherence
    • Accuracy of information
    • Structure and organization
    • Strength of arguments (if applicable)
    • Areas for improvement
  2. Here’s the feedback we’ll ask for. Copy and paste this text into the chatbox of your favourite GenAI tool, but don’t press enter on your keyboard yet: I'd like feedback on an assignment I've completed including, how well I address the assignment instructions, for clarity and coherence, accuracy of information, strength of arguments, and please provide a bullet point list for areas of improvement.
  3. Copy and paste the assignment instructions into the chatbox after the feedback text you just gave it: Assignment instructions: Include a concise summary of the technologies, teaching methods, or topics from this week's class that you are reflecting on or commenting on; Employ a multimedia strategy for your post by using text and one or more other media to enrich your post and help make it more engaging (e.g., screencast, podcast, video, sketchnote, image, infographics, or other formats); Your post demonstrates a critical reflection on the technologies, or teaching methods, including (but not limited to): possible benefits & drawbacks, age appropriateness, possible or actual privacy & security issues, and possible equity issues; Utilize social writing strategies such as hyperlinks to blog posts (e.g., trackbacks) or to articles/resources consulted, including web pages, images, videos, etc.
  4. Attach the completed assignment to the chat (this is the sample assignment is the PDF file you downloaded in Step 3).
    Submitting assignment instructions and the assignment for GenAI feedback including an uploaded PDF document.
  5. Press the Enter key on your keyboard to submit your request.
    Submitting assignment instructions and the assignment for GenAI feedback
  6. Review your GenAI tool’s Feedback. Read the feedback carefully for potential errors and omissions.
    • Has it suggested to add things from the assignment instructions that you missed?
    • Can you see any mistakes that it’s made?
    • Has it suggested any areas of improvement? Are they good suggestions?
    • Have you found the GenAI feedback useful overall?

Follow-up Questions or Prompts

  1. If needed, you can ask follow-up questions of your GenAI tool. You can engage in a dialogue to clarify suggestions or ask it to expand on something.
  2. Revise Your Work: Upon critical reflection for each suggestion, use the feedback of the good suggestions as the basis for revising and improving your assignment before submitting it. NOTE: You are not copying or pasting anything from the suggestions but are using the suggestions as inspiration to revise your assignment text in your own words.

By following these steps, you can effectively use GenAI tools to get valuable feedback on your assignments. Remember to be clear and specific in your requests to get the most helpful responses.

NEXT STEP: Literature Review Activities