Giving peer feedback promptly with "hot" debriefs

Giving peer feedback promptly with "hot" debriefs

Though simulations can be powerful learning experiences on their own, students’ learning is enhanced when instructors give them adequate time to process what they just experienced. Particularly when pressure runs high, fostering a structured space for students to debrief is critical. In Brian Mandell’s class, immediately after simulations conclude, student groups offer each member feedback about their performance in the activity. With the simulation still fresh in students’ minds, “hot” debriefs become candid spaces in which students provide one another specific, constructive support.

Profiled: Brian Mandell, Mohamed Kamal Senior Lecturer in Negotiation and Public Policy, teaches "Advanced Workshop in Multiparty Negotiation and Conflict Resolution" to 60 students at the Harvard Kennedy School.

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Classroom Considerations

  • Create space for students to debrief immediately after active learning takes place when students’ experiences are still fresh in their minds. This timing ensures that discussions retain the simulation’s specificity and impact.
  • Scaffold students’ giving and receiving of feedback. Consider modeling how debriefs should look and sound. Provide exemplars of the type of feedback you expect students to give one another.
  • Encourage students to be constructive but kind with the feedback they provide peers. Discourage vague evaluations and empty praise; instead, push them to be specific and honest in peer-to-peer debriefs.

Relevant Research

  • Active learning experiences, such as simulations, may engage learners in emotional events. Accordingly, debriefing remains important for students’ learning in the simulation (Fanning & Gaba, 2007; Issenberg et al., 2005);

Related Resources

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