Helpful feedback has little to do with what the teacher thinks, for example the pre-supposition the teacher makes about the outcomes of student projects, and is much more about developing an openness to what actually works and what others like, without an absolute truth either stated or implied by the curriculum. Let the students decide what to do by emphasizing these two types of feedback: - Natural feedback - Collaborative feedback
Value is quite straightforward in my mind. It has several parts: a) students see value or a reason to learn the material without being told they must learn or get punished with poor grades; b) students learn to think about the what they learn and know in the context of how it affects others (or fits into a bigger picture), c) what students learn is challenging and engaging enough that it doesn’t feel like a dumb exercise to the student (e.g. a lab that can be looked up on Google that thousands of people have already done won’t fit this definition of valuable); and d) the process of learning creates confidence in the student and the process cultivates lifeworthy skills.
Not all learning will involve all 4 aspects of value, but the more the better!