Progress Checking Strategies and Pitfalls

Pitfalls to avoid Superficial progress checking. Just because a student gives you a ‘thumbs up’ doesn’t mean that they understand Inaccurate progress checking. Student perceptions of what they understand may be wrong Unhelpful progress checking. Just because the student understands, doesn’t mean that they will remember: “as learning occurs, so does forgetting” Nuthall

Learning can only be inferred from performance (Bjork)

Check mastery to adjust planning Common mistakes Work is pitched too high or too low Due to lack of match some students have unnecessary repetition of work that they have already mastered, while others are moved on too swiftly

Check that students understand what success looks like Provide models of best practice Provide clearly delineated steps to success Take photos of what excellent looks like

Check understanding to adjust teaching Use probing questions to check student understanding Use mini-whiteboards or ABCD cards to gain feedback from all students Probe what students understand rather than how they feel or what they think they understand

Check where you left students At the end of the lesson set a question to gain feedback on where students are: a.They understand b.They can apply understanding c.They can apply understanding to a new context

Check what students are struggling with What did you struggle with today?

Get students to check their work Get students to check their first draft against criteria in order to improve it further. For examples see Self- assessment Essays

Progress Checking Questions What are the advantages/ disadvantages of working in this way? What advice would you give to someone who... If I was to teach this lesson again what should I keep/ change? How has your thinking changed since the start of the lesson? What different learning strategies have you used, and which was most helpful? What was the most valuable feedback you got today? Where have you made improvements to your work? Who, or what, helped you to make progress? What would a good outcome look like? What made you decide to include? What best helped you to understand? Which resource that you used was most useful? What was the most challenging aspect of...? How could you prove that you have made progress? How did you manage to overcome a difficulty? Why did you use that strategy? Who contributed most to your group? What do you predict will be the outcome? How does what we’ve learned today link to...? Who else could you use this skill? What was your best/ worst choice today? What has been your best/ worst decision? What has been the best question asked? What were the 3 main things you learned? What was interesting about this lesson? If you could repeat this, how would you change it? What helped/ hindered you most today? What is least clear to you?