What is meant by feedback in terms of acquiring skills?

Answer 1

Think of tossing a ball back and forth with a toddler. You toss the ball and it goes past him. He catches on that the game is to stop the ball and get it back to you (this is just wired into kids, I think, or an imitative use of feedback). But then when he tries to stop the ball, he notices that he doesn't. It bounces off his cute pudgy belly, or it goes past him again. Sometimes his hand may be in the right place to make contact, and he's excited-- energized-- PUMPED. He starts moving his hands around trying to make contact again. The effort to move his hands to make contact is evidence that he is using the feedback he got when he made that first magical contact with the ball. He is probably even using the 'feedback' of seeing you handle the ball. He figures (in a nonverbal way) that "this has to do with how I use my hands". He might try clasping his hands together (another form of learning from feedback) and sometimes it works, even if it is just to pick the ball up after it bounces off. One thing leads to another and more and more connections are made.

Answer 2

Feedback in terms of acquiring skills refers to receiving information about your performance that helps you understand how well you are doing and what you can do to improve. It can come from teachers, mentors, peers, or through self-assessment. Effective feedback is specific, timely, and focused on behaviors that can be changed.