Enhancing Feedback Conference

8/13/2019 Enhancing Feedback Conference

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RETHINKING FEEDBACK: WHAT'S IT FOR, AND HOW CAN IT MAKE ADIFFERENCE?

Dai Hounsell Universit of Nottin ham 22 Se tember 2011

Rethinking feedback:

what's it for, and how

can it make a

difference?

DAI HOUNSELL

UNIVERSITY OF EDINBURGH

University of Nottingham, 22 September 2011

www.tla.ed.ac.uk/feedback.htm


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The

Troublewith

Feedback


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FeedbackFundamental

s


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FUNDAMENTALS OF FEEDBACK

What forms does feedback take?

pro forma written comments exemplarsexams guidance feedforwardtraditionalcollaboration on-display learning peeraudio

past questions screencast whole-classclickers in-class assignments cumulativeediting

anticipatory feedback elective self co-revision

e-feedback redrafting reviewing progress

criteria dialogue supervision interaction


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Why Does Feedback Speak in So Many Voices?

what's effective or feasible feedback can varyin relation to

the level of study / stage of students' progression in the

subject at university level

the task or activity they are engaged in

the wider course setting / teaching-learning environment (and

its feedback 'affordances' and constraints)

the purpose(s) of the feedback

'signature' feedback practices (c.f. Shulman)

an expanding palette of possibilities


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So what is 'feedback ', exactl y ...

... and why does it matter?

Feedback comprises information, processes, activities or

experiences which aim to encapsulate, enable or boost

students' learning

i.e.

feedback doesn't just come from comments

by lecturers/tutors [good] feedback is performance-enhancing


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So what is 'feedback ', exactl y ...

... and why does it matter?

Feedback comprises information, processes, activities or

experiences which aim to encapsulate, enable or boost

students' learning

Feedback can focus on:attainment what a student knows, understands or can do at a

given point in time

progress where a student currently stands in relation to a

specified goal, target or level

achievement what a student has achieved as demonstrated in a

completed assignment or task


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What is 'feedback' and why does it matter?

Why feedback matters

learning without feedback is 'blind archery'

feedback is indispensable to effective teaching andassessment, optimising the conditions under which each

student can achieve their best


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Who gives feedback, where and when ?

Sources of feedback Lecturers, tutors, demonstrators, supervisors, mentors

Fellow-students / peers, a students own reflections

The audience for a seminar or poster presentation, professional

practitioners

Feedback where and when?

formally informally

in timetabled classes / online outwith timetabled classes / offline

intrinsic extrinsic

priorto a task or

activity

duringa task or activity aftera task or activity


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FEEDBACK'S MANY PURPOSES


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Feedback

That Makes

More of a

Difference


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FEEDBACKTHATMAKESMOREOFADIFFERENCE

Better opportunities to use feedback

Enhancing students' grasp of feedback and

standards

Boosting the availability and richness of

feedback

FEEDBACK THAT MAKES MORE OF A DIFFERENCE


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Why is

feedback o ften

uncol lected ?

Why m ight

som e feedback

always cometoo late ?



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Why is there

such a big

dif ference

between how

we givefeedback to

our

undergraduate

and ou rdoctoral

s tudents ?



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Why is there

such a big

dif ference

between how

we give

feedback to our

undergraduate

and our

doctora l

s tudents ?


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RETHINKING FEEDBACK: WHAT'S IT FOR, AND HOW CAN IT MAKE ADIFFERENCE?Dai Hounsell Universit of Nottin ham 22 Se tember 2011



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Boosting the availability & richness of feedback

Generic and whole-classfeedback

On-display learning

Collaborative tasks &

activities


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OBSERVATION AS A PROXY FOR FEEDBACK

c. Giving the

Talk

d. Questions andDiscussion

a. Prior

Experiences ofPresenting

b. Tutors'Guidance onPresenting

f. Learning fromOthers'

Presentations

g. Developing aPersonal Style

e. Feedback


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Enhancing students' grasp of feedback & standards

"The many diverse expressions of dissatisfaction with

written feedback can be interpreted as symptoms of

impoverished and fractured dialogue. Mass higher

education is squeezing out dialogue with the result that

written feedback, which is essentially a monologue, is

now having to carry much of the burden of teacher-

student interaction."

(Nicol, 2010)


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ESSAY WRITING AND FEEDBACK (1987)

"Tutors fail to acknowledge 'the subtle interplay between

what is said and what is taken for granted' (Rommetveit,

1979, p. 96) and so do not seek to close the gap

between their own and their students' understanding of

expectations."

(Hounsell, 1987, p. 114)



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Enhancing students' grasp of feedback & standards

Elective feedback

Exemplars

Peer and self-generated

feedback

FEEDBACK CONNOISSEURSHIP


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FEEDBACK, CONNOISSEURSHIP

& DIALOGUE

"[Students] need to learn to discover what quality looks andfeels like, and the aspects whether large or small that

detract from it. They need to develop a vocabulary for

expressing and communicating what they find. Furthermore,

they should gradually attune their growing realisations and

discourse to the norms of the discipline, field or profession"(Sadler, 2010)

The process of engagement needs staff and students to share and

develop a greater understanding of the complexity of feedbackprocesses, and of what can be expected from all parties in this

process."

(Price, Handley & Millar, in press)


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FEEDBACKTHATMAKESMOREOFADIFFERENCE


Enhancing students' grasp of feedback and

standards

Boosting the availability and richness of

feedback

Enhancing Feedback Conference

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