What is feedback?

‘Feedback’ literally means to feed information back to somebody. In the context of STEM volunteering, that somebody usually means you as the volunteer. You’ll be receiving information, not only on the content of the STEM volunteering activities, but also on your volunteering skills which includes presentation and communication skills.

There are four different reasons why you would want to obtain and use feedback:

1. To determine whether you have met the activity objectives.
2. To identify whether you have met your employer’s objectives.
3. To contribute towards overall volunteering programme evaluation.
4. To identify whether you are meeting your personal/professional goals.

The process of receiving feedback is the primary focus of this course. However, it is worth considering that you may also be able to provide feedback to your audience of young people, the educators you work with and organisers of STEM activities.

Task

What reasons for obtaining feedback are most important in your context?

In the comments below, put the four reasons for gathering feedback in order of priority and explain why: activity, employer, yourself, volunteering programme.

Have we missed any?