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Field Experience I:�FE Foundation Course

Session 7

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Activity 2.1: Giving constructive feedback

  1. Be specific: Praise the student specifically on what s/he did as a guide for the student and others to know what exactly is considered good, e.g. you have used 5 colors in the picture, your colouring stays within the outline
  2. Stay positive: To avoid a sense of failure for the student and to make other students feel positive to try in future, e.g. good try, you can name one of the three. Then the teacher can give hints for the other two or invite other students to continue.
  3. Focus on learning (not just a correct answer): a Right/Correct response focuses students on the answer, not the thinking; it can also make some students not willing to respond because they are worried about not getting the correct/model answer the teacher wants. A ‘No!’ or ‘wrong!’ response is discouraging and can defeat students’ confidence in learning. Can ask the student to tell his thoughts behind and help him to link it to the learning points

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The Importance of Feedback in Learning and Teaching

Feedback as information:

  • about the learner’s performance for both the learner and the T
  • about performance relative to learning goals
  • based on evidence of learning
  • from the teacher, the student and/or peers
  • leading to changes in teacher and student behaviour

Effective feedback is designed to achieve improvement in student learning, continuously driving a student’s current performance towards a current learning goal.

(AITSL: Spotlight – Reframing feedback to improve teaching and learning, p.5)

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Classroom Interaction / Teaching Exchanges (IRF model)

Initiation

Response

Feedback

  • Giving instructions
  • Questioning skills
  • Organising learning activities

Sinclair and Coulthard (1992)

  • Group-focused vs Individual-focused
  • Positive vs Negative
  • Descriptive vs Evaluative
  • Direct vs Indirect
  • Verbal
  • Non-verbal
  • Written

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Types of Feedback

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Group-focused vs Individual-focused

Collective – common errors

Personalised – Feedback to individual

Positive vs Negative

Specific praise

Correct the error

Descriptive vs Evaluative

Value neutral

Judgment

Directive vs Indirective

Providing the correct form of errors

Draw students’ attention to the error without giving the correct form

  1. Coded: consistent use of symbols supported by systematic instruction
  2. Uncoded: errors underlined / circled

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How to Provide Verbal Feedback

  • What can the student do?
  • Positive and reassure students that they’re on the right path with their thinking

1. Be Affirmative on “What is Right”

  • What can’t the student do?
  • Implicit way – corrects the error by asking for clarification
  • Explicit way – points out the error and providing a reason for this

2. Correcting and Explaining

  • How can the student do better?
  • Direct their thought process onto the right path

3. Achieve the learning goal

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Understandable

Use language students can understand

Specific

Point to instances where the feedback applies

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Contextualised

Framed with reference to the learning outcomes/ assessment criteria

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Timely

Given in time to improve the next assignment

Non-judgmental

Descriptive rather than evaluative, focused on learning goals not just performance goals

Balanced

Point out the positive + areas for improvement

Forward Looking

Suggest how students can improve in future assignments

Transferable

Focused on processes, skills and self-regulatory processes

Personal

Refer to what is already known about the student

Selective

Comment on 1 or 2 things students can do something about

Good Written Feedback (Nicole, 2010)

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Assessment

OF

Learning

To demonstrate achievement

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Assessment

FOR

Learning

To give feedback on L&T

Assessment

AS

Learning

To self-regulate & critically evaluate

High Stakes

Low Stakes

Teacher

is responsible & decision-maker

Student

is responsible & decision-maker

SUMMATIVE

FORMATIVE

Term exams, essays, projects

Teacher marks the work

Gives grade / score

Students self-review or peer review to make judgment (critical evaluation)

Written/oral feedback to students for improve learning

Adapted from Nation Forum for the Enhancement of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education (2019)

 

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Bloom’s Taxonomy

(Cognitive Level)

Demonstration Verbs

Create

Build new ideas/Form a new whole

Produce, Plan, Generate, Construct, Create, Design, Compose, Formulate

Evaluate

Develop opinions, judgements or decisions

Appraise, Justify, Value, Prioritize, Decide, Defend, Evaluate, Choose

Analyze

Breaking a whole into component parts

Examine, Categorize, Differentiate, Compare, Classify, Specify, Infer

Apply

Use facts, rules or principles in a new way

Demonstrate, Illustrate, Solve, Show

Give an example, Determine, Apply,

Understand

Explain ideas or concepts

Describe, Explain, Interpret, Summarize, Retell in your own words

Remember

Recall of information or remember facts

Define, Describe, Identify,

Name, Label, Locate, Match, Underline

High Order Thinking

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Complex & Abstract

Lower

Order Thinking

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Simple & Concrete

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References

Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership (n.d.). Spotlight – Reframing feedback to improve teaching and learning, Retrieved from https://www.aitsl.edu.au/docs/default-source/research-evidence/spotlight/spotlight-feedback.pdf?sfvrsn=cb2eec3c_12

Hattie, J., & Gan, M. (2011). Instruction based on feedback. In R. Mayer & P. Alexander (Eds.), Handbook of research on learning and instruction, pp. 249-27. New York: Routledge.

Hattie, J., & Timperley, H. (2007). The power of feedback. Review of Educational Research , 77, 81–112.

Nation Forum for the enhancement of teaching and learning in Higher Education (2019). National understanding of assessment OF/FOR/AS Learning. Retrieved from https://www.teachingandlearning.ie/publication/enhancing-programme-approaches-to-assessment-and-feedback-in-irish-higher-education-case-studies-commentaries-and-tools-2/

Nicol, D. (2010). Good designs for written feedback to students. In M. Svinicki and W.J. McKeachie (13th Eds.), McKeachie’s teaching tips: Strategies, research and theory for college and university teachers, 108–24. ed. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Cengage Learning.

Sinclair, J. and Coulthard, M. (1992). ‘Toward an analysis of discourse.’ In Coulthard, M. (Ed.), Advances in Spoken Discourse Analysis, 1-34. New York: Routledge. 

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