Responding and Getting Response
Fears
2. What is your biggest fear about receiving feedback from other students about your writing?
The responses of the students to this question fell into seven categories (plus the usual 'other' category) although several of the categories seem to relate to the same underlying fears. The top two categories contained almost half of the total comments.
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Lack of fear about constructive feedback (15 comments)
Interestingly, many students expressly commented that they did not fear feedback, as long as it was constructive. -
Lack of confidence about one's own abilities (11 comments)
Aside from general issues which stem from worry about the constructiveness and honesty of feedback, the most common fears about receiving feedback stemmed from lack of confidence about writing skills or understanding the concepts. These comments are about the author's own mindset, not about the content of the feedback. -
Concern over whether the feedback is useful (8 comments)
Several students expressed negative opinions about feedback which was not useful or constructive. -
Inability to accept criticism (7 comments)
Some students openly admitted that it can be difficult to be receptive to feedback, even when it is constructive. -
Fear that they have been misunderstood (5 comments)
These comments pointed out that feedback is not very useful if the responder did not understand the motivation or meaning of the author. -
Dishonesty (3 comments)
Along with the concern about constructive feedback were these few comments which specifically mentioned the possibility that the responder would not be totally honest because of concerns about offending or discouraging the author. -
Lack of confidence in the responder (2 comments)
Finally, there were a couple of comments questioning the skill level of the responder.
Collection of Actual Comments
Below are the actual comments of the students. The context surrounding some comments has been removed to leave just the actual 'fear' expressed, but the words of the students have not been changed.
Other comments:
- I hope that my fellow students are patient and enjoy the journey more than the destination
- that I won’t have a companion to get lost with
- that someone will point out a flaw in my writing that I'd have to rewrite the entire paper to fix
- that they will not agree with me
- the process is emotionally taxing and must be handled delicately.
I don't fear constructive feedback...
- Constructive feedback is a vital step toward writing more effectively
- I am not really scared to receive feedback from other students
- I believe that constructive feedback is essential to improvement
- I don't really have any fears about receiving feedback
- I don't really have a fear about receiving feedback
- I have no fear of my work being criticized by others as long as the advice is constructive and helps improve expressing my main idea.
- I have no fears on receiving feedback from my peers, as long as the feedback is constructive and helpful.
- I know that there are a lot of mistakes in my writing so I like it when they are pointed out.
- I love feedback, anything can be helpful, although sincerity and honesty are especially appreciated.
- I really like feedback, as long as it isn't too harsh.
- I respect feedback if it is given respectfully.
- I think feedback is always good as long as it is given constructively and with a positive approach.
- I try to take feedback as open-mindedly as possible
- most of the feedback was very helpful and insightful
- Nor do I have fear about receiving feedback, it will either be useful or not, but I'm not so connected to my ideas that my feelings will be hurt.
I don't know enough myself...
- [that my] ignorance may cause impatience and some may, more often than not, feel the need to point out my flaws
- I knew people wouldn't be able to unravel my tangle of thoughts.
- not being able to improve, question or enhance my own thought processes as a result of receiving the feedback.
- that I know my writing skills are not the best
- that I may not get my point across clearly
- that I realize that my thoughts aren't well organized
- that I will be off the mark somehow in my writing
- that I will not reflect on the information enough to respond to it
- that in my arrogance I will present something as true, when it is in fact not
- that my writing is way off topic and no one will correct me
- that what I am writing about doesn’t make sense.
I fear comments that are not constructive...
- getting back a paper that says 'I like the first paragraph, the next 13 pages should be scrapped and worked over'
- just not care if they do not give constructive feedback
- that I will only get positive comments
- that it will be too opinionated
- that peers will just hand a paper back and say, "it is just fine."
- that the reviewer is just talking to hear themselves speak
- the editor just laughing and saying "what in the hell were you thinking?, your paper sucks".
- they will not offer suggestions for how I may improve my writing
I fear that I will not be receptive...
- a sense of rejection and personal attack
- that I might be offended
- that I put a wall up and don't gain anything from their input and thoughts
- that I take it for what it is and not something personal
- that some students maybe too judgmental on my writing
- that someone will tell me that my writing is awful
- that the battering that my intellectual ego must endure in order for it to become refined will end up destroying my willingness to let others see what I've written
I fear misunderstanding...
- I much rather have you tell me I’ve missed something important than letting me think I understood it all
- that my point may be lost on some
- that other students will not state clearly what did not work for them
- that someone responds to an assumption about what I wrote that I didn’t intend and therefore I am unable to understand his or her feedback
- they'll give suggestions that have nothing to do with the point I'm trying to make
I think the responder might not be honest...
- that peers will withhold comments for fear of insulting me
- that the editor will hold back, and not give an honest opinion of my work because they don't want to be overly harsh
- that they will “soften” their view, thinking they might hurt my feelings
- that they won't be entirely honest because they don't want to hurt my feelings
I question the skill of the responder...
- I would hope that my editor is someone with a greater skill level than myself
- the skill level of the two parties involved