Best practices for providing meaningful faculty-student feedback in an online setting: An integrative review applied to nursing education

• Published in: Nurse education today 2025-03, Vol.146, p.106510, Article 106510
• Main Authors: Lammey, Christina, Frangieh, Jihane, Humphrey, Katherine G., Lehmann, Julia, Thompson, Brett, Hughes, Vickie
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Faculty-student feedback; Online nursing education; Online setting; Student feedback
• ISSN: 0260-6917; 1532-2793; 1532-2793
• DOI: 10.1016/j.nedt.2024.106510

Meaningful, formative feedback from faculty to students in the online academic setting promotes the faculty-student relationship and encourages learning. The aim of this review is to determine the best practices for providing student feedback from faculty in an online setting. Integrative review of the literature encompassing both quantitative and qualitative studies. Comprehensive search of four databases: PubMed, Embase, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL), and Education Resource Information Center (ERIC), limited to articles published between 2014 and 2024. Articles were included that reported on faculty-student feedback practices in the undergraduate level or above. Of the 362 articles screened, thirteen were deemed appropriate for this review. Themes explored from the results were multimodal feedback approaches, faculty proficiency in technology, timely feedback practices, content of feedback, and student engagement in feedback. Nurse faculty members who are well-educated on best practices of providing formative feedback to students in an online setting are best equipped to mentor and teach students in modern academic settings. Audiovisual feedback is well received by students and promotes connectedness between students and faculty. Technological tools in the learning management system, such as screen capture recordings and tracking feedback clicks, may be useful in providing feedback in the online setting. Student engagement with feedback and the level of student feedback literacy were found to be important aspects of the feedback process. Future research should focus on student feedback literacy and the use of artificial intelligence in faculty-to-student feedback. •Meaningful feedback from faculty contributes to student motivation and learning.•In-person feedback practices cannot be directly applied to the online setting.•Online feedback strategies include use and proficiency of technology.•Understanding student's feedback literacy may guide faculty feedback.