What Does My Feedback Mean?
You slave over a draft. Months of work. Endless agonising. Finally, it’s ready. You press ‘Save’ one last time and send it off. Your job now is waiting for the feedback. And yes, you know the process is meant to be helpful and that your draft won’t be perfect and that you’re on a learning journey, and all that. But it’s still a punch in the stomach when it comes, no matter how well prepared you thought were. Needs development here . Too descriptive. Not enough critical evaluation. Link studies together. Don’t summarise, synthesise . You sink into your chair and randomly thumb the pages. Needs development? Link the studies? Synthesise? What do these things even mean?! And Not enough critical engagement ?! You spent more time doing that than anything else! How could there not be enough?! Your first instinct is to fling the whole thing in the bin and take up flower arranging. A wonderful occupation, no doubt, but is that really your drea...