FeedbackHow can teachers engage

learners in effectively utilizing and providing feedback to take

ownership of their learning, writing ability, and progress?By Amy Bess, Courtney Warlick, Kristen Nielsen & Andrea

Palmisano

Engaging the Disengaged“I'm sorry I haven't kept in touch. Writing emails can be scary...so can being thoughtful.

“I was cleaning my room the other day, and I found the work I did in your class (I forgot what you called our little collections). I reread every comment you wrote, and it made me feel really good. Thank you so much for reviewing students' work with care and making sure to encourage them. You are such a positive force in and out of the classroom. That can't be said for many other teachers; I think you should be proud of yourself.

“I appreciate the things you've done for me, no matter how insignificant they might seem to you.” —a graduate (three years later)

“The most powerful single modification that enhances achievement is feedback. The simplest

prescription for improving education must be ‘dollops of feedback’ (p. 9).” Immediate, corrective feedback that is specific produces the greatest improvement. --Marzano,

Pickering, Pollock, 2001 (pp 94, 96-98)

"Talking with students as they write or prepare to write indicates that we view writing as a process of discovery in which we can help the writer learn how to shape a piece of writing as it is taking form. Moreover, since the writing teacher talks with the students and reacts as a reader, students can see that writing is primarily an act of communication in which the needs of the reader are crucial considerations. The role of the teacher in all this is to assist in the process, to help each writer move through draft after draft of the writing and focus on his or her unique questions and problems. The teacher's role is also to respond as an audience or reader, to identify problems the writer may be having and to teach the writer strategies for moving through the writing process successfully,"(Harris, Teaching One to One: The Writing Conference.).

Teachers and Feedback

The teacher's role is to listen to what the student is saying and to respond in a personal and genuine manner.(Calkins, 1986)

Levels of Feedback:Hattie and Timperley (2007) distinguish four levels of feedback:• Feedback about the task• Feedback about the processing of the task• Feedback about self-regulation• Feedback about the self as a person

Feedback can be informal or formal.

It should describe where the student is in relation to the learning goal

What it looks like

Asking an open-ended question. By asking an open-ended question, you invite the student to tell you about what he’s doing as a writer.

Asking follow-up questions. Once your conversation with the student gets started, ask follow-up questions.

Looking at the student’s writing to help you identify an area of need.

"Feedback should be specific enough that the student knows what to do next, but not so specific that you do the work. Identifying errors or types of errors is a good idea, but correcting every error doesn’t leave the student anything to do,"(Susan M. Brookhart,  Educational Leadership, 65(4),pp. 54–59).

Guiding Thought

Effective Feedback “The most powerful tool for improving student learning.”

Black, Harrison, Lee & William (2003)

Goal-Referenced

Students have a goal Students take action to achieve goal Students receive goal related information about his or her actions

"The best feedback is so tangible that anyone who has a goal can learn from it.”

Tangible and Transparent

Actionable Leaves the learner thinking “What specifically should I do more or less of next

time, based on this information?”

Just the right amount Too much or highly technical feedback can be

counterproductive

User Friendly

Timely Timely rather than immediate Students get more timely feedback and opportunities to use it

while the attempt and effects are still fresh in their minds.

Not only receiving feedback but also having opportunities to use it. 

The feedback “loop”

On-going

Consistent Stable, accurate, and trustworthyTeachers need to look at student work together, becoming

more consistent over time and formalizing their judgments in highly descriptive rubrics supported by anchor products and performances.

Gear feedback to long term goals

Progress Towards a Goal

Why utilize audio feedback?Audio feedback aids teachers in having a greater impact on their students.

Transforms approach to feedback—chore to powerful teaching tool

Can foster a better understanding of students’ writing needs

Include what would be said in the luxury of a conference

Takes the same amount of time to provide but in a more effective manner

Transfers learning from one assignment to the next

Why utilize audio feedback?Audio feedback inspires students to better engage with and utilize feedback to guide their own improvement.

Is appreciated by students for being personal and of a higher quality; students “felt personally engaged in the process of receiving feedback” (Bauer)

Can be accessed as needed and desired Increase student’s confidence by seeming less

harsh and easier to understand Is particularly effective for ELL and dyslexic

students

How to utilize audio feedback?Audio feedback can improve a student’s engagement, academic self-confidence, writing ability, and critical thinking.

Begin and end on a positive note

Be specific in your feedback but avoid overdoing it

Suggest a variety of opportunities for improvement

Ask questions to promote thinking

Audio feedback can help strengthen the relationship and rapport between teachers and their students.

Personalization matters

Be conscientious about tone of voice

Correct misspeaks; rerecording is unnecessary

Listen and revise as needed if tone may be an issue

How to utilize audio feedback?

Students get an opportunity to develop their ability to give meaningful feedback.

Students receive advice on their drafts.

Broader audience than just the teacher.

It is difficult for teachers to give meaningful feedback in a timely manner to a whole class. Peer feedback allows for more frequent encounters with one another.

Provides opportunities to see different approaches other students have taken to respond to the same topic.

Students put forth more effort on their writing piece because of social pressure to perform well in front of peers.

How does peer feedback improve student writing?

How to start peer feedback in the classroom?

Students need models and explicit instruction on how to give feedback.

Students need to understand the purpose of peer feedback

Students need to realize they are not the final verdict, but rather giving suggestions to support fellow peers.

Teachers need to establish protocols when students disagree about advice a peer has given. Set up conferences or provide questionnaires to survey the status of the classroom.

Ways to Incorporate Feedback in the Classroom Receiving the Piece by Donald Grave

In this approach two or more students work together. Two roles: listener and writer First, the writer reads their piece aloud to the listener. Next, the listener repeats the story back to the writer. The writer

can clarify and misunderstandings at this time and also ensures that the piece has been “received” by someone else.

Next, the listener ask a questions about the piece. The writer responds to the question.

Then, the listener provides a suggestion to help strengthen the piece.

Finally, the listener shares what they liked about the piece of writing.

The steps are repeated when roles are reversed. Why is this strategy helpful?

It allows students to have their piece heard and helps the writer see how the reader understands and connects with their writing.

Ways to Incorporate Feedback in the Classroom Blogging-

Students provide feedback by posting to a peers piece.

Why is this strategy helpful? Research shows that students are more apt to take their time

because they know their peers will be looking at their work. Peers did respond that they did not want to give negative feedback

so that they wouldn’t humiliate peer in front of everyone. Peers can see different approaches to providing feedback to peers.

Work CitedBauer, S. (2011). When I stopped writing on their papers: Accommodating the needs of student writers with audio comments. The English

Journal, 101(2), 64-67.

Bransford, J. D., Brown, A. L., & Cocking, R. R. (Eds.). (2000). How people learn: Brain, mind, experience, and school. Washington, DC: National Academy Press.

Brookhart, S. (2007, December). Educational Leadership: Informative Assessment: Feedback That Fits. Retrieved from http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational-leadership/dec07/vol65/num04/Feedback-That-Fits.aspx

Graves, D.H. (2003). Writing: Teachers & Children at Work. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann

Gielen, S., Tops, L., Dochy, F., Onghena, P., Smeets, S. (2010). A comparative study of peer and teacher feedback and of various peer feedback forms in a secondary school writing curriculum. British Education Research Journal, 36 (1), 143-162.

Harris, Muriel, 1937-. (1986). Teaching one-to-one: The writing conference. Retrieved from National Council of Teachers of English website: http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED270824.pdf

Hattie, J.,& Timperley, H. (2007). The Power of Feedback. Review of Educational Research, 77(1), 81-112. doi:10.3102/003465430298487

Hattie, J.,& Timperley, H. (January 01, 2007 The power of feedback.). Review of Educational Research,. Retrieved from American Educational Research Association website: http://education.qld.gov.au/staff/development/performance/resources/readings/power-feedback.pdf

Hermann, A. (1989). “Teaching Writing with Peer Response Groups.” ERIC ED307616. Accessed at http://www.ericdigests.org/pre-9211/peer.htm.

Leibold, N., & Schwarz, L. M. (2015). The art of giving online feedback. The Journal of Effective Teaching, 15(1), 34-46.

Work Cited

Marzano, R. J., Pickering, D. J., & Pollock, J. E. (0). Preassessment for Classroom Instruction That Works: Researched-Based Strategies for Increasing Student Achievement.

Mazur, E. (2009, January 2). Farewell, lecture? Science, 323, 50–51.

McCarthey, S. J. (1992). The Teacher, the Author, and the Text: Variations in form and Content of Writing Conferences. Journal of Literacy Research, 24(1), 51-82. doi:10.1080/10862969209547762

Martini, T., & DiBattista, D. (2014). The transfer of learning associated with audio feedback on written work. The Canadian Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, 5(1), 8.

Nelson, M. (2009). The nature of feedback: How different types of peer feedback affect writing performance. Instructional Science, 37, 375-401.

Rotheram, B. (2009). Sounds good: Using digital audio for evaluation feedback. Collected Essays on Learning and Teaching, 176-179.

Woo, M., Chu, S. & Li, X.(2013).Peer-feedback and revision process in a wiki mediated collaborative writing. Educational Technology Research & Development. 61 (2), 279-309.