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Feedback sandwiches affect perceptions but not performance

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Abstract

The feedback sandwich technique—make positive comments; provide critique; end with positive comments—is commonly recommended to feedback givers despite scant evidence of its efficacy. These two studies (N = 20; N = 350) of written peer feedback with third-year medical students on clinical patient note-writing assignments indicate that students think feedback sandwiches positively impact subsequent performance when there is no evidence that they do. The effort necessary to produce feedback sandwiches and students’ unwarranted confidence in their performance impact have implications for teaching about how to give feedback.

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Acknowledgments

This project was funded (in part) by a National Board of Medical Examiners® (NBME®) Edward J. Stemmler, MD Medical Education Research Fund grant. The project does not necessarily reflect NBME policy, and NBME support provides no official endorsement.

Conflict of interest

We are not aware of any conflicts of interest.

Ethics approval

This study received ethics approval from the University of New Mexico School of Medicine Human Research Review Committee.

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Author notes

  1. Sara Abercrombie

    Present address: School of Educational Foundations, Leadership and Policy, Bowling Green State University, Bowling Green, OH, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Educational Psychology Program, University of New Mexico, MSC05 3040, 1 University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM, 87131-1246, USA

    Jay Parkes & Sara Abercrombie

  2. School of Medicine, University of New Mexico, MSC09 5090, 1 University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM, 87131-0001, USA

    Teresita McCarty

Authors
  1. Jay Parkes
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  2. Sara Abercrombie
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  3. Teresita McCarty
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jay Parkes.

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Parkes, J., Abercrombie, S. & McCarty, T. Feedback sandwiches affect perceptions but not performance. Adv in Health Sci Educ 18, 397–407 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10459-012-9377-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10459-012-9377-9

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