The Power of Feedback

1. The Power of Feedback Hattie & Timperley (2007) from Review of Educational Research, 77(1)

2. The Meaning of Feedback • Info provided by something/someone regarding performance or understanding • People (teachers, parents, peers, self) • Things (books, computers) • Purpose—fills the gap between what is understood and what needs to be understood

3. How can this gap be closed? • Affective Processes • effort • motivation • engagement • Cognitive Processes • restructuring • confirming correctness • indicating more information is available or needed • indicating alternative strategies to understand information

4. Some types of feedback are more powerful • Most powerful—involving students who received information about a task and how to do it more effectively. • Least powerful—praise, rewards, punishment • Why might extrinsic rewards yield a lower effect size? See p. 84

5. Read the excerpt • The last paragraph on p. 84 that continues over to 85-86 • The authors review Kluger and Denisi (1996) • In it they indicate that “the power of feedback is influenced by the direction of the feedback relative to performance on a task” • What does this mean to you? • Think (30 sec); Pair (1 min); Share

6. How feedback works • If we want increased “effort” and more “responsibility” then… • …the intended goal (aka learning target) needs to be: • Clear; • Highly committed to; • Student belief that success is within reach The teacher’s role: Reduce the discrepancy between current and desired understanding by engineering a different kind of learning environment

7. Reducing the Discrepancy • Engineer an environment whereby Attribution is: • Internal and; • Unstable • This is done by creating a learning environment in which students develop self-regulation and error detection skills

8. Dylan Wiliam’s Aspects of Formative Assessment

9. How can teachers assist? Provide challenging and specific goals • Specificity can be obtained through the use of exemplars and student generated rubrics • Specific goals focus students’ attention • Specific goals make the feedback more directed • Specific goals allow for more direct criteria for success

10. Hattie & Timperley’s Feedback Model • What is the goal? (where am I going) • What progress am I making? (How am I going) • What do I need to do in order to make better progress? (Where to next)

11. Where Am I Going? • The learning goals relative to the task or performance • Involve 2 dimensions: • Challenge • Commitment • Goals relate to feedback in that: • They inform individuals so they can evaluate their actions and adjust • The feedback provides information so that students can close the gap Can student goal setting help teachers deal with the different skill levels of students within a class?

12. How Am I Going? • Tells the student (and teacher) what progress is being made • This kind of feedback gives: • Information about progress and; • How to proceed

13. Where to Next? • The answer shouldn’t be “more” • These could include: • Enhanced challenges • Additional self-regulation • Greater fluency/automaticity • More strategies • Deeper understanding Could this kind of feedback help teachers deal with the different skill levels of students within a class?

14. The 4 Levels of Feedback • Feedback about the task or product (FT) • Correct or incorrect— “You left out an important detail that will help your summary make more sense” • Feedback about the process (FP) • Underlying methods used to help the student improve— “Including more descriptive language will help others develop a better picture” • Feedback about self-regulation (FR) • Self checks on criteria in alignment with the exemplar— “Look at the rubric and determine if you have met all the quality components” • Feedback directed at self (FS) • Great job

15. Group Work • Divide into 3 groups. Each group will explain 1 kind of feedback and provide examples to your colleagues • Group A—Feedback About Task (FT) • Group B—Feedback About Self-Regulation (FR) • Group C—Feedback About Self as a Person (FS)