Are Feedback Sandwiches Junk Food or Healthy Fare?

• In Event: Poster Session 10
  In Poster Session: Division I Poster Session

Abstract

The feedback sandwich – make a positive statement; provide critique; end with a positive statement – is commonly recommended to feedback givers despite scant evidence of its efficacy. These three studies (N = 20; N = 350; N = 311) of written peer feedback with third-year medical students on clinical patient note-writing assignments indicate that students think feedback sandwiches impact their learning when, in fact, they do not; that those performing well in medical school are more likely to serve feedback sandwiches; and that women serve more substantive sandwiches than men do. These studies provide concrete evidence that the feedback sandwich is junk food that, while enticing, does not fuel learning.

Authors

• Jay Parkes, University of New Mexico

• Sara A. Abercrombie, Bowling Green State University

• Teresita Mccarty, University of New Mexico