Outcome, Informational, and Correctional
Because Feedback is Key to Learning it’s worth looking at how it can come. Accuracy matters.
No Feedback
The worst. You essentially cannot learn. The process is uncontrollable. If possible, create some Manufactured Feedback.
Example
A doctor who prescribes a medication to a patient then never hears from that patient about its efficacy.
Outcome Feedback
The easiest form of feedback to get, but also the least granular, and therefore least helpful, is outcome feedback. This is when you can only see the holistic outcome of the thing you did.
Example
When your C++ code didn’t produce a text file at all, that’s outcome feedback.
Informational Feedback
This is similar to outcome feedback, but applied to the individual granules of the thing you’re doing. This is a massive improvement in the Feedback Loop.
Example
When you use a debugger to step through the code and see what each line is doing.
Correctional Feedback
Correctional feedback is when an expert or tutor is observing your process and showing you where you’re wrong and suggesting how to fix it. This is the least common, hardest to get, but also potentially most helpful form of feedback. It is, however, subject to Noise in the judgment of the expert who’s guiding you.
Example
Tennis lessons. Golf lessons. Or when the TA walks over and looks at your code with you.