Professional Documents
Culture Documents
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clarify the purpose and value of effective feedback to learners identify strategies that improve the quality of feedback to learners, through suggested readings and classroom activities.
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New Zealand Ministry of Education 2009 - copying restricted to use by New Zealand education sector.
Effective feedback
For feedback to be effective for students, they need the following: an understanding of the desired goal
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Thus, when feedback is combined with effective instruction in classrooms, it can be very powerful in enhancing learning.
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A typology of feedback
In 1996 Pat Tunstall and Caroline Gipps developed a typology of teacher feedback by recording and classifying the feedback given by teachers to their students. They classified feedback as either: evaluative involving a value judgment or descriptive describing what the student said or did, and providing guidance for improvement
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Evaluative feedback
Evaluative feedback involves a judgment by the teacher based on implicit or explicit norms.
Descriptive feedback
Descriptive feedback: focuses on identified learning outcomes and makes specific reference to the students achievement. looks towards improvement.
An emphasis on evaluative feedback can affect how students feel about themselves.
It can make the good students feel better (and possibly complacent) and the less able students feel worse (and the more sure that they will never be able to succeed.)
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Most teacher feedback interactions observed by Tunstall and Gipps were at the evaluative end of the continuum.
How we provide suggestions for improvement is critical in closing the gap for students. Improvement is more likely if we use the kind of feedback prompt that best meets the need of the student.
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2. Scaffold prompt
3. Example prompt
Remember, prompts need to be focused around the learning intention of the task.
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Reminder prompts:
How could you make the description of the character more striking? Remember the rule about circles we talked about?
Scaffold prompts:
Why dont you try using a simile to describe how he eats? What about the rule which says that the area of a circle is r?
Example prompts:
Why dont you use a simile to describe your character? Try He gulped down his food like a pelican. Calculate using r. Multiply 27 x 27 then
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Written feedback
When feedback is given in writing, some students: have difficulty understanding the points the teacher is trying to make are unable to read the teachers writing cant process the feedback and understand what to do next. Asking a student to tell you what they think you are trying to say to them is the best way to check this out.
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Students given only marks made no gain from the first to the second lesson. Students given only comments scored on average 30% higher. Giving marks alongside comments cancelled the beneficial effects of the comments.
Research conclusion: If you are going to grade or mark a piece of work, you are wasting your time writing careful diagnostic comments.
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Clarke (2001)
Findings from Clarke's research:
Teachers give: too many criteria making it very difficult for specific feedback to be given
too much information in their marking which students find overwhelming and difficult to take in. Clarke suggests that: when giving written feedback, teachers highlight two or three successes in the students work and one area where some improvement is necessary.
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Some practical strategies for effective formative feedback to try out in the classroom
(Adapted from Mike Gershons Assessment for Learning Tools)
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Comment-only marking
Comment-only marking provides students with a focus for progression instead of a reward or punishment for their ego (as a grade does).
Self assessment
Reinforce the focus on redrafting and comment-only marking by insisting on seeing evidence of student self assessment on their work before you look at it. (Youll have to allow time for this).
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Feedback Sandwich
Feedback can be delivered in different ways. Two examples of feedback sandwiches are 1. Positive comment
Now/Next time
Interactive statement e.g. a question based on the work
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This allows students time to focus on the feedback for improvement they have been given.
It also reinforces the value of the feedback and allows them to work at it in a supportive environment.
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Feedback follow-up
- Create time in the lesson to talk to individual students. - Have a written dialogue in the students book. - Use a comment tracker or target sheet to formalise the dialogue in a workbook.
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Learning Journal
Create a learning journal in which students can reflect on and review their learning. It could include plenary activities, a target setting chart, aims and goals etc.
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Feedback in summary
Effective feedback to learners: is best initiated by the learner focuses on the learning intention of the task occurs as the students are doing the learning provides information on how and why the student
learning.
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