The main purpose of feedback is to reduce discrepancies between current understanding or performance and some desired level of performance or goal.

gap between current understanding and desired performance

IMPORTANCE OF FEEDBACK

What Does the Research Say?

Academic feedback is more strongly and consistently related to achievement than any other teaching behavior. This relationship is consistent regardless of:

  • Grade,
  • Socioeconomic status,
  • Race, or
  • School setting (Bellon, Bellon, & Blank, 1991).

“The most powerful single modification that enhances achievement is feedback. The simplest prescription for improving education must be dollops of feedback.” ~Hattie, 1992

Effective feedback leads to immediate impact on results, which leads to lower failures, which leads to better attendance and fewer suspensions (Reeves, 2009). Students need time to actually discuss and apply. For example, in basketball, you don’t wait until end of game to see what the score is, you have timeouts during the game to discuss ways to improve results.

Just a small amount of on-going, descriptive feedback will help students understand:

  1. What they need to know and to do next,
  2. Where they need to go, and
  3. How to reduce the discrepancies between their current understanding and their desired goal.

While feedback can have a significant impact on student learning, not all feedback is effective.

OVERVIEW OF FEEDBACK

Feedback is information provided by an agent (e.g. teacher, peer, book, parent, self/experience) regarding aspects of performance or understanding.[ref]Hattie, J., & Timperley, H. (2007). The power of feedback. Review of educational research, 77(1), 81-112.[/ref] Feedback should be based on visible evidence. It is not a judgment or opinion. Feedback helps learners to attempt improvement because it derives from and addresses their intent to accomplish a specific thing.

Feedback in the Classroom

[one_half]The focus of this module is to help teachers improve their use of feedback during instruction to help students understand—where am I going? How am I going? And where to next?

Group and individual feedback discussions can help learners reflect and understand how to use learning goals and task criteria for understanding their progress toward the learning goal. The following video is an example of feedback in action that reflects the three major questions. The video includes teachers across age levels (five year old classroom, elementary classroom) who provide direct instruction focused on feedback.

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UNPACKING FEEDBACK

Where Am I Going?

Students need to have a clearly defined goal or target in each learning experience. They need to understand what success looks like to be able to answer the question, “Where am I going?”

  • Nature of learning intentions/goals/targets
    • Transparent
    • Communicated
    • Moves from where students are
    • Includes success criteria
    • Challenge
    • Commitment
  • Feedback then relates to reaching success on the learning intentions –reducing the gap

How am I going?

To help the student proceed, the teacher may need to differentiate instruction.

  • Providing feedback relative to the learning intention
    • in relation to some expected standard,
    • to prior performance, and/or
    • to success or failure on a specific part of the task.
  • Information about progress and how to proceed.
  • Relative to
    • Curriculum progression,
    • Personal bests, and
    • Comparative effects.

Where to next?

Often teachers forget about the student who needs to be challenged; how do we build learning for all students? Students should be owners of their learning.

  • Enhanced challenges
  • More self-regulation over the learning process
  • Greater fluency and automaticity
  • Different strategies and processes to work on the tasks
  • Deeper understanding
  • Information about what is and what is not understood.
  • A common conception of progression
  • A teacher’s answer to a student should never be “more”

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Hattie and Timperley’s Model of Feedback (2007)

Hint: Hover over the colored boxes below to learn more.

Purpose

To reduce discrepancies between current understandings / performance and a desired goal.

The Discrepancy Can Be Reduced By

[flip_boxes columns=”2″ class=”” id=””]
[flip_box title_front=”Teachers” title_back=”Teachers can…” text_front=”” border_color=”” border_radius=”4px” border_size=”1px” background_color_front=”#62a7c9″ title_front_color=”#ffffff” text_front_color=”#ffffff” background_color_back=”#62a7c9″ title_back_color=”#ffffff” text_back_color=”#ffffff” icon=”fa-apple” icon_color=”#ffffff” circle=”no” circle_color=”” circle_border_color=”” icon_rotate=”” icon_spin=”no” image=”” image_width=”35″ image_height=”35″ animation_type=”0″ animation_direction=”down” animation_speed=”0.1″ animation_offset=””]Provide appropriate challenging and specific goals OR Assist students to reach them through effective strategies[/flip_box]
[flip_box title_front=”Students” title_back=”Students might…” text_front=”” border_color=”” border_radius=”4px” border_size=”1px” background_color_front=”#92be43″ title_front_color=”#ffffff” text_front_color=”#ffffff” background_color_back=”#92be43″ title_back_color=”#ffffff” text_back_color=”#ffffff” icon=”fa-child” icon_color=”” circle=”no” circle_color=”” circle_border_color=”” icon_rotate=”” icon_spin=”no” image=”” image_width=”35″ image_height=”35″ animation_type=”0″ animation_direction=”down” animation_speed=”0.1″ animation_offset=””]Increase their effort and employ more effective strategies OR Alternatively, abandon, blur or lower the goals[/flip_box]
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Effective Feedback Answers Three Questions

[flip_boxes columns=”3″ class=”” id=””]
[flip_box title_front=”Where am I going?” title_back=”Where am I going?” text_front=”” border_color=”” border_radius=”4px” border_size=”1px” background_color_front=”#62a7c9″ title_front_color=”#ffffff” text_front_color=”#ffffff” background_color_back=”#62a7c9″ title_back_color=”#ffffff” text_back_color=”#ffffff” icon=”fa-map-signs” icon_color=”#ffffff” circle=”no” circle_color=”” circle_border_color=”” icon_rotate=”” icon_spin=”no” image=”” image_width=”35″ image_height=”35″ animation_type=”0″ animation_direction=”down” animation_speed=”0.1″ animation_offset=””]Feed Up
(The Goals)[/flip_box]
[flip_box title_front=”How am I going?” title_back=”How am I going?” text_front=”” border_color=”” border_radius=”4px” border_size=”1px” background_color_front=”#92be43″ title_front_color=”#ffffff” text_front_color=”#ffffff” background_color_back=”#92be43″ title_back_color=”#ffffff” text_back_color=”#ffffff” icon=”fa-map-o” icon_color=”” circle=”no” circle_color=”” circle_border_color=”” icon_rotate=”” icon_spin=”no” image=”” image_width=”35″ image_height=”35″ animation_type=”0″ animation_direction=”down” animation_speed=”0.1″ animation_offset=””]Feed Back[/flip_box]
[flip_box title_front=”Where to next?” title_back=”Where to next?” text_front=”” border_color=”” border_radius=”4px” border_size=”1px” background_color_front=”#726C63″ title_front_color=”#ffffff” text_front_color=”#ffffff” background_color_back=”#726C63″ title_back_color=”#ffffff” text_back_color=”#ffffff” icon=”fa-arrows” icon_color=”” circle=”no” circle_color=”” circle_border_color=”” icon_rotate=”” icon_spin=”no” image=”” image_width=”35″ image_height=”35″ animation_type=”0″ animation_direction=”down” animation_speed=”0.1″ animation_offset=””]Feed Forward[/flip_box]
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Each Feedback Question Works at Four Levels

[flip_boxes columns=”2″ class=”” id=””]
[flip_box title_front=”Task Level” title_back=”Task Level” text_front=”” border_color=”” border_radius=”4px” border_size=”1px” background_color_front=”#62a7c9″ title_front_color=”#ffffff” text_front_color=”#ffffff” background_color_back=”#62a7c9″ title_back_color=”#ffffff” text_back_color=”#ffffff” icon=”fa-tasks” icon_color=”#ffffff” circle=”no” circle_color=”” circle_border_color=”” icon_rotate=”” icon_spin=”no” image=”” image_width=”35″ image_height=”35″ animation_type=”0″ animation_direction=”down” animation_speed=”0.1″ animation_offset=””]How well tasks are understood/performed[/flip_box]
[flip_box title_front=”Process Level” title_back=”Process Level” text_front=”” border_color=”” border_radius=”4px” border_size=”1px” background_color_front=”#92be43″ title_front_color=”#ffffff” text_front_color=”#ffffff” background_color_back=”#92be43″ title_back_color=”#ffffff” text_back_color=”#ffffff” icon=”fa-refresh” icon_color=”” circle=”no” circle_color=”” circle_border_color=”” icon_rotate=”” icon_spin=”no” image=”” image_width=”35″ image_height=”35″ animation_type=”0″ animation_direction=”down” animation_speed=”0.1″ animation_offset=””]The main process needed to understand/perform tasks[/flip_box][/flip_boxes]

[flip_boxes columns=”2″ class=”” id=””]
[flip_box title_front=”Self-Regulation Level” title_back=”Self-Regulation Level” text_front=”” border_color=”” border_radius=”4px” border_size=”1px” background_color_front=”#726C63″ title_front_color=”#ffffff” text_front_color=”#ffffff” background_color_back=”#726C63″ title_back_color=”#ffffff” text_back_color=”#ffffff” icon=”fa-street-view” icon_color=”” circle=”no” circle_color=”” circle_border_color=”” icon_rotate=”” icon_spin=”no” image=”” image_width=”35″ image_height=”35″ animation_type=”0″ animation_direction=”down” animation_speed=”0.1″ animation_offset=””]Self-monitoring, directing, and regulating of actions[/flip_box]
[flip_box title_front=”Self Level” title_back=”Self Level” text_front=”” border_color=”” border_radius=”4px” border_size=”1px” background_color_front=”#EB8F4D” title_front_color=”#ffffff” text_front_color=”#ffffff” background_color_back=”#EB8F4D” title_back_color=”#ffffff” text_back_color=”#ffffff” icon=”fa-user” icon_color=”” circle=”no” circle_color=”” circle_border_color=”” icon_rotate=”” icon_spin=”no” image=”” image_width=”35″ image_height=”35″ animation_type=”0″ animation_direction=”down” animation_speed=”0.1″ animation_offset=””]Personal evaluations and affect (usually positive) about the learner[/flip_box]
[/flip_boxes]

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Lesson Topics