Interpreting Learner Issues/Feedback (SCT/Hint)

Learn how to interpret feedback provided by learners about course exercises.

Amy Peterson avatar
Written by Amy Peterson
Updated over a week ago

After you have isolated an exercise that needs fixing using the chapter- and exercise-level metrics, your next step should be to look at the Code Diff viewer (looking at what learners submitted as an incorrect answer) to identify possible trends and common misinterpretations. 

Reviewing the Issues and Feedback should be the last step before beginning to make changes to your course, as this type of feedback can be highly subjective. For example, a learner may insist they submitted the correct answer when the Code Diff viewer shows that they, in fact, did not. Use this feedback to provide context on the learner’s approach and thought process when approaching the exercise.

Questions to consider when examining feedback

  • Is the learner misinterpreting what the exercise instructions are telling them to do?

  • For example, are they looking for the sum instead of the average?

  • Are they misunderstanding how the code works, or are their errors syntax related?

  • For example, are they using the wrong function, or are they using [] brackets when they should be using () parentheses? 

  • Did they actually find a valid alternative solution? If so, please request an SCT update.

Remember: Not all learner feedback is correct or valid, but oftentimes they may find something we hadn't anticipated.

Did this answer your question?