Feedback

What is feedback? “feedback is information with which a learner can confirm, add to, overwrite, tune, or restructure information in memory, whether that information is domain knowledge, meta-cognitive knowledge, beliefs about self and tasks, or cognitive tactics and strategies” Winne and Butler (1994 p 5740 in Hattie and Timperley 2007 Review of Educational Research, Vol 77, No 1 )

Feedback can… Relate to affective or cognitive domains Include a variety of types such as corrective, alternative, clarifying, encouraging, evaluative or instructional Be accepted, rejected or modified Sought or given Be most powerful when it addresses faulty interpretations and reduces discrepancies between current understandings and performance and goal

Framing a Model of Feedback Effective feedback must answer three major questions: Where am I going? What are the goals? How am I going? What progress is being made toward the goal? Where to next? What activities need to be undertaken to make better progress?

Example: Using counting by ones with feedback can use more efficient strategy such as subitising or counting by 2s or 5s. Photo retrieved from: http://www.istockphoto.com/microsoftclipartimages.php?xc=MP900443272

The discrepancy can be reduced by: Purpose To reduce discrepancies between current understandings/performance and a desired goal The discrepancy can be reduced by: Students: Teachers: * Increased effort and employment of * Providing appropriate challenging and specific more effective strategies or goals * Abandoning, blurring, or lowering the goals * Assisting students to reach them through effective learning strategies and feedback Effective feedback answers three questions: Where am I going? (the goals) Feed UP How am I going? Feed BACK Where to next? Feed FORWARD FEEDBACK AT FOUR LEVELS Task Level How well are tasks understood/ performed Process Level The main process needed to understand and perform tasks Self Regulation Level Self monitoring, directing and regulating actions Self Level Personal evaluations and affect (usually positive) about the learner

Feed UP – Where am I going? About the attainment of learning goals related to the task or performance. Goals should be clear, well defined, challenging to gain commitment Judgements may be: DIRECT – passing a test COMPARATIVE SOCIAL ENGAGMENT RELATED Issues: Goals are not well defined, feedback is unrelated to achievement of goals, commitment is not achieved or assumed

Feed Back: How am I going? Feedback is effective when it consists of information about progress and/ or about how to proceed. Issues: Often leads to ‘testing’ Limited methods does not provide required information

Feed FORWARD: Where to next? Provides information that leads to greater possibilities for learning Can include – enhanced challenges, effective strategies and processes, greater fluency and automaticity, deeper understandings and reflection on what is and is not understood Issues: Not just more: information, tasks, expectations

Levels of Feedback Task or product Process Self regulation level Directions for more, different, correct information Process Learning processes such as editing or stages Self regulation level Supports self efficiencies, self- regulation of beliefs, are encouraged or informed how to do better and more effortlessly continue the task Self or personal Often least effective and unrelated to task

Effect of Feedback Highest – top 5 to 10 highest influences on student learning. Information about the task and how to do it more effectively Aimed at extrinsic motivation and self regulation Lowest Praise, reward, punishment Considerations: culture, age, gender and classroom climate