Feedback and Feedforward: Empowering Student Learning
With Elena Terekhina (Manaiakalani Network)
Feedback can come from teachers, peer or whānau; our focus is teachers' feedback.
The assessment for learning archway has six component parts (or capabilities)
- Capability One: Building learning focused relationships sits as the foundation stone of the archway. Teaching and learning are founded on the quality of the relationship built between teacher and student. This strong relationship is the foundation for learning upon which all else rests.
- Clarity about learning – Everyone knows what they’re learning, why and how (LI/ SC).
- Assessment literacy – Knowing how to use assessment effectively (summative and formative).
- Promoting further learning – Helping students move towards their learning goals (This will be one of our focus for today looking at effective feedback and feedforward).
- Active reflection gives the opportunity for both teachers and students to evaluate the effectiveness of the teaching and learning process.
- Clarity about next steps requires shared knowledge of the big picture of the learning between students and teacher. Students know what they are aiming for and how to get there.
All these capabilities based on principles, knowledge, skills and understandings which teachers and learners progressively develop and integrate one with the other to deeper and deeper levels of understanding.
Assessment is either summative or formative and needs to be used to improve learning. The purpose is to
- Evaluative
- Descriptive
- Generative - how to improve
Clarke (2003) suggests three types of prompts for providing descriptive feedback dependent on the needs of the learner:
Reminder prompt (“You read that italicized word in a normal voice. Remember we talked yesterday about words with italics and what we need to do with our voice…”)
Scaffold prompt (“Try rereading that sentence again and put emphasis on the word in italics to show amazement…”)
Example prompt (“Try emphasising the word in italics with your voice to show amazement, like this: You aren’t going to eat that are you?”)
Focus for prompting needs to be around the learning intention(s) or goal(s) of the task. (As always)
Feedback is a shared response; teachers give feedback, and students need to act on it. These capabilities don’t develop automatically. They require planning, explicit teaching, modelling, practice and scaffolding
Giving them a map of what they have done.
Students with assessment literacy can understand what they are learning, how they are progressing, and what to do next.
In Te Mātaiaho, progress markers and teaching sequences provide clarity about expected learning each year. When teachers share this information with students in accessible ways, students gain the ability to interpret feedback, track their progress, and adjust their learning strategies.
This builds self‑regulation and motivation — key characteristics of how people learn. Students who understand progress information can take greater ownership over their learning, participate meaningfully in conferences, and develop long‑term learning confidence.
John Hattie: we need more than a dollop of feedback. But it is more about what they hear/receive :
We know students and people in general are selective on what they hear.
Ask students, "Tell me what you heard?" - This is to encourage students to interpret what we are saying.
Feedback should be more work for the receiver than the giver.
Research doesn't support the sandwich model for feedback, as they often focus on the Praise.
Effective feedback is focussed.
We often pick up the book and think where do I start. Pick one or two skills that are the most important that related to the success criteria.
Effective Feedback should be
Focussed (Specific), Accessible, and
Timely
Students need to be doing the heavy lifting (learning); don't do it for them. You can give support or scaffolds.
Feedback needs time for students to receive, if it is worth us writing it, then give students the time to read it!
Rather than writing feedback and then forgetting it. What about using feedback as detective work? Here is 4 comments which one goes with which story/essay? - Given to a group of four students. In maths, you have 5 right and 3 need fixing, find them and fix them.
- https://tipsforteachers.co.uk/feedback-detective-work/
Train students to give feedback, and then they will be able to do self-review better.
Ultimate GOAL is transferable Feedback - how will this feedback help them next time?
