TRANSLATING PRINCIPLES OF EFFECTIVE FEEDBACK FOR STUDENTS INTO THE CS1 CONTEXT By Claudia Ott, Anthony Robins and Kerry Shepard Presented by Laurel Powell

Feedback and Students ■Among the 10 most important influences on student achievement ■Focus is shifting from a behavioral to constructivist approach –Behavioral feedback is meant to influence students toward goals –Constructivist approach demands greater activity from the learner and encourages them to construct their own understanding ■Students are often dissatisfied with feedback ■Class sizes are increasing and students backgrounds are growing more varied which makes giving good feedback increasingly challenging

Principles of Good Feedback Practices ■Helps clarify what good performance is (goals, criteria, expected standards) ■Facilitates the development of self-assessment (reflection) in learning ■Delivers high-quality information to students about their learning ■Encourages teacher and peer dialogue around learning ■Encourages positive motivational beliefs and self-esteem ■Provides opportunities to close the gap between current and desired performance ■Provides information to teachers that can be used to help shape teaching

Framework for Feedback ■Task level : How well tasks are understood/performed ■Process level : The main process needed to understand/perform tasks. ■Self-regulation level : Self-monitoring, directing, and regulating of actions. ■Self level : Personal evaluations and affect (usually positive) about the learner

Major Questions for Each Level ■Where am I going? ■How am I doing? ■Where to next?

Opportunities for Applying the Principles of Good Feedback in a CS1 Course ■COMP160 ■First Year Java introduction with 200 students ■Lectures ■Tutor-assisted lab work ■Midterm and Final

Task Level Feedback ■Specific learning tasks –Writing a computer program for example ■Tasks completed during tutorial sessions ■Tasks and exercises during lecture ■Examinations

Task Level Feedback – Tutorial Sessions ■Factors Influencing Feedback –Time Pressure –Tutor Personality and Experience –Student Attentiveness ■One-on-one conversation is ideal but challenging due to increasing student numbers

Task Level Feedback – Lecture and Exams ■Interactive Teaching Techniques –Clickers –WebAssessment ■Traditional Exam Formats of MCQs or short answer questions (especially grades without feedback) can be problematic –More open ended forms of assessment have other issues

Process Level Feedback ■Task Strategies rather than task outcomes –Programming Process ■Exemplars ■Programming Environments ■Reflection and “Feed Forward” –Course Process ■Explicit Goals

Self-Regulation Level Feedback ■Student self-monitoring and regulation of their own learning –Multistage Assignments –Peer Assessment –Self-Monitoring Course Performance

Conclusion ■Many opinions on feedback ■Effective feedback –Clarifies Goals –Informs about Performance –Indicates Means for Improvement –Supports Development of Self-Regulation ■Feedback should be given at the Task, Process and Self-Regulation Levels

Questions? ■How have you used feedback in your classes? ■Do you believe that the principles for feedback discussed here change as the student matures? ■What methods have you used to counter some of the potential difficulties in providing good instructor feedback?

Citation Claudia Ott, Anthony Robins, and Kerry Shephard Translating Principles of Effective Feedback for Students into the CS1 Context. Trans. Comput. Educ. 16, 1, Article 1 (January 2016), 27 pages. DOI=