Even when teachers take the time and effort to provide students with meaningful, critical feedback that highlights their errors and misconceptions, this feedback may be unproductive if students perceive it as evaluative. But the good news is that there is a reflective strategy that teachers can use with students to challenge their pessimistic interpretations of critical feedback. Central to this reflective strategy is recognizing and addressing the attributions that students make regarding the feedback they receive.
Cognitive psychologist Martin Seligman (2006) identified two distinct and contrasting attributional styles: a pessimistic style, in which the individual attributes challenges or adversity to internal, stable, and global causes (see also Dweck, 2006), and an optimistic style, in which challenges are attributed to external, variable (i.e., subject to change), and specific causes. If students make pessimistic attributions in relation to critical feedback, they may conclude that they have low academic ability and that they are likely to do poorly on future assessments (for example, "I'm not smart," "I'm not a math person"). When such attributions are made, students may feel that any extra efforts spent correcting their misunderstandings will be useless. In contrast, if students make optimistic attributions in relation to the critical feedback they receive on a given assessment, they are more likely to revise their study strategies (e.g., "I now know what I need to practice," "I won't make the same mistake next time"). They are also more likely to persevere in their academic efforts.
Clearly, it is important that teachers guide students toward making optimistic attributions about feedback. The ABCDE framework (Seligman, 2006) is a reflective framework through which individuals can learn to challenge their own pessimistic attributions. Seligman encourages individuals, upon experiencing a challenge or adversity, to ask themselves the following questions:
- What was the adversity that was experienced?
- What beliefs occurred in your mind when this adversity occurred?
- What might be the consequences of these beliefs? If these beliefs are true, what actions will you take or not take?
- What are some ways to dispute these initial beliefs? Are there alternative ways to interpret the adversity that you experienced?
- In what ways are you now energized to take action going forward?
Using this framework, individuals can reconsider the pessimistic attributions they are making. Specifically, rather than jumping to the conclusion that the adversity is an indication of one's own inadequacy, an individual can be prompted to consider alternative (more optimistic) attributions. Teachers might prompt students with a simpler version of this framework as a reflective exercise after students are given feedback on an assessment. Teachers might ask students questions like these:
- What feedback did you receive?
- What do you now believe as a result of this feedback?
- What are some alternative conclusions that you might draw other than the ones that you have already listed?
- As a result of the feedback you received, what are you going to do next?
If students receive critical feedback that highlights a particular misunderstanding, they, using these prompts, can be dissuaded from attributing that feedback to a lack of their own academic ability or intellect and, instead, accept it as a helpful tool that highlights their current (but not permanent) misunderstanding.
Teachers need to remember that students do not necessarily perceive feedback as helpful. Indeed, if students are in the habit of making pessimistic attributions, they may perceive feedback as threatening or as an assessment of their overall academic or intellectual abilities. Therefore, it is the teacher's responsibility to help students reflect on the feedback they receive and develop the habit of making optimistic attributions that energize their academic efforts.