Using effective feedback
Students use effective feedback to improve their learning.
What is using effective feedback?
Feedback is most useful when it is aligned to the learning intentions and success criteria of a lesson or learning experience (Clarke, Timperley and Hattie 2023). It is most effective when delivered during learning (Clarke 2014). Feedback must cause students to think and act in ways that will help them to bridge the gap between their current state and the intended demonstration of learning.
Effective feedback:
- assists the learner to reflect on their learning so they can make adjustments and progress
- is timely, specific and on-going
- includes teacher to student, student to teacher, peer and self assessment
- is a deliberate practice that has been planned.
What could it look like in the classroom
- Can be verbal or written.
- ‘What next? 3 questions’. As the teacher (or peer) reads student work they annotate 3 items which they want the student to reflect on with a numbered circle. At the bottom of the work, they then ask 3 questions, each relating to one of the numbered items, leaving space for the student to respond. Students are given class time to respond to the questions (Solution Tree 2018).
- Make feedback ‘detective work’ (William 2016). For example, place feedback on slips of paper not attached to student work. Put students in small groups to determine which feedback belongs to which sample of work.
- Peer feedback may take the form of routines like 'two stars and a wish', or 'Plus, Minus, What’s next?'. Templates can be found on the Digital Learning Selector.
What it isn’t
- Grades or marks – 'As soon as students get a grade, the learning stops. We may not like it, but the research reviewed here shows that this is a relatively stable feature of how human minds work' (Wiliam 2011:123).
- Praise, which can interfere with student self-efficacy (Hattie and Clarke 2019).
- Sharing all possible areas for improvement in student work.
- Statements not aligned to the learning intentions.
Further reading
- Black P and Wiliam D (2009) Developing the theory of formative assessment, Educational Assessment Evaluation and Accountability, 21:5-31.
- Maths in schools podcast (28 July 2023) Feedback that is specific and clearly actionable.
- Clarke S (2014) Outstanding Formative Assessment: Culture and Practice, Hodder Education, Great Britain.
- Hattie J and Clarke S (2019) Visible Learning: Feedback, Routledge, New York.
- NESA (NSW Education Standard Authority) (n.d.) Effective feedback.
Clarke S (2014) Outstanding formative assessment: culture and practice, Hodder Education, Great Britain.
Clarke S, Timperley H, Hattie J (2003) Unlocking formative assessment: Practical strategies for enhancing students’ learning in the primary and intermediate classroom, Hodder Moa Beckett, Auckland NZ, 2003.
Hattie J and Clarke S (2019) Visible learning: feedback, Routledge, New York.
Solution Tree (2018) ‘The handbook for embedded formative assessment’, Solution Trees Press, Bloomington IN.
Wiliam D (2011) ‘What is assessment for learning?’ Studies in Educational Evaluation, (37)1: 3-14, 2011 accessed 16 April 2024.
Wiliam D (2016) ‘The secret of effective feedback’, Educational Leadership, 73(7):10-15.