1. Chapter 5 Providing Feedback That Moves Learning Forward Ben Sosebee & Kathleen Burns

2. The Quality of Feedback A research study done in 1985 by Elawar & Corno with 3 schools in Venezuela 1st school teachers were trained for 7 hours then provided feedback in the form of specific feedback, suggestions on improvement & at least on positive remark. 2nd school Teachers were trained for 7 hours Provided feedback have to half the class and only scores to the other half. 3rd school Received no training and reported only scores to students Results showed that the students who received constructive feedback learned twice as fast as the control group. Learning improvements occurred across all achievement levels, students attitudes towards mathematics were more positive and the achievement gap between males and females was reduced.

3. The Quality of Feedback In another research study there were similar results The 1st classroom grades were reported back 2 days after an assignment was given. The 2nd class room only comments were given These students scored 30% higher on the second assessment The 3rd classroom the students were given scores and comments These students scored no better on the second than the 1st assessment These students progress but not as much as the students who were given the comments alone. It appears that the comments value is washed out when pairing with scores. Students who got high scores did not read the comments and students who scored poorly didnt want to.

4. The Quality of Feedback In yet another similar study one teacher compared results of class periods, some were given feedback, comments, and grades in different combinations. This time the students were given a questionnaire, this was given to measure effort made related to ego or task related factors. Results of Questionnaire Students who were given comments only had high levels of task involvement, but ego involvement was around the same as the students with no feedback. Students with written praise had comparable (to control group) levels of task involvement, yet their ego involvement was much higher. When grades were adding into the reports there was no achievement increases but there was a slight increase in ego involvement.

5. The Quality of Feedback It appears that the quality of feedback rather than the quantity of praise is important. Teacher praise is far more effective if it is infrequent, credible, contingent, s pecific, and genuine. p. 111

6. The Quality of Feedback Timing is everything If it is too early (before they can do the work) they will learn less . Students who received feedback on questions they peeked at before the chance to answer them learned less. Simmons & Cope (1993) conducted research and found students engaged on a computer program proving constant trial and improvement had more mindfulness than students who were asked to complete a pencil and paper handout and then had it checked for accuracy.

7. The Quality of Feedback Sometimes less is more If the students remain mindful throughout the activity it is more meaningful than a larger volume of practice MATH EXAMPLE: Students who were provided with scaffolding support to get unstuck during the process of a challenging problem made more progress compared to: Students who completed the problem incorrectly, were given the solution and then given a new problem to solve. They never figured out where they were stuck.

8. The Quality of Feedback Does it matter if feedback is oral or written? During a music class research study that was conducted by Boulet, Simard & DeMelo (1990) the results showed that students who were given feedback orally scored higher than those with written or no feedback. The student with either type of feedback scored higher than the group with none.

9. The Quality of Feedback There are 3 strong themes relating to students responses on achievement: 1st personal or outside factor Personalization Internal I got this grade because I worked hard External I got this grade because Ms. Burns hates me 2nd long lasting/transient Stability Stable I got this grade because I am good at this subject Unstable I got this grade because I did not study for this test. 3rd Specify Specific-I am only good at one thing Global- I am good at this, so I am good at everything.

10. A Recipe for Future Action

11. What is feedback? Term came from Norbert Wiener. Formed part of the feedback loop in a thermostat helping to regulate room temperature. This allowed someone to measure the current temp., set the desired temp., and compare the current temp to the desired temp.

12. How to get feedback to work? The point is to bring current state closer to the desired state. Just telling the students that their current performance falls short of learning targets isnt feedback. Information must be used by learner to improve performance. The teacher should break down feedback into steps to allow the student to understand how to get from point A to the end result.

13. Grading: Why it doesnt work? Grades make no improvement on student learning. Once a grade is given, learning stops. Many schools and administrators agree with this concept. Parents want to see grades to determine how their child is achieving and progressing.

14. Grading: How to make it work? Set up learning tasks into individual learning units. Rank the students mastery on each of these units. 0-2 Allow the student opportunities to continue to master the learning tasks. Provide them with feedback to help them understand what they need to do to master the learning tasks.

15. Grading: How to make it work cont. Create a rubric for original submission, and future re-submissions. Students should not be given an easy grade for re-submitting the assignment. The rubric on page 128 shows how to increase grades with each submission, without making it too easy for students.

16. Grading: How to make it work cont. Another example in grading is to use a plus, equal, or minus sign. If the student gets a check, they have mastered the learning task. If the student gets an equal sign, they have only mastered part of the learning task. If the student gets a minus sign, they have not mastered the learning task. This gives the student feedback without a final grade. The teacher can then require the student to go back and fix what they missed until the task is mastered.

17. When does feedback work? It works best if the feedback is used by the learner in improving performance. Teachers should focus on both positives and negatives. You did great on this part.. You could improve on this part Make sure the language is student friendly. Stay to the point, but do not be broad with statements. (Get your era lower) Try to use alternative systems other than just grades.