Act on Feedback/OG
| Act on Feedback | |
| Contributors | Steven Warburton, Joseph Bergin, Christian Kohls, Christian Köppe, Yishay Mor |
|---|---|
| Last modification | May 17, 2017 |
| Source | Warburton et al. (2016)[1][2] |
| Pattern formats | OPR Alexandrian |
| Usability | |
| Learning domain | |
| Stakeholders | |
Summary: Close the feedback loop by making sure that you allow time for students to act on the feedback they have been given.
Context
You have taken the time to provide future facing feedback and you want to ensure it has impact on the quality of the work that your students are producing.
Problem
You have given timely feedback but find that students do not act on, or at worst disregard, the feedback that is being given to them.
- Forces
- • If the feedback is on an assessed piece of work in the past then it is likely to be ignored as students often look focus on what is coming rather than what has passed.
- • Using a feed forward strategy can help align the students to a more productive use of feedback that drives towards the future
- • Students will often only respond to feedback if they see a direct opportunity to improve their summative grades.
Solution
Therefore actively create the time and space for your students to be able to reflect on the feedback that you give and provide support for action planning.
- Solution details
- • Ensure that leaners are able to identify the gap between what they have produced and what they need to produce to achieve their goal.
- • Use a ‘feed-forward’ style of feedback to help move the learner forward. So while feedback focuses on current performance (which may simply be the grade that has been awarded), feed forward will look ahead to the next assignment.[3]
- • Feed forward offers constructive guidance on how to improve. A combination of feedback and feed forward ensures that assessment has an effective developmental impact on learning (provided the student has the opportunity and support to develop their own evaluative skills in order to use the feedback effectively).
- • Design courses with an explicit space for students to act on their feedback. For example this can be part of a Peer Review (Peer Review) process.
- • Use technology to assist teachers by enabling them to share and access examples of feedback across a course or programme of study.
Positive consequences
Promotes a longitudinal approach, feedback is seen as more developmental and less corrective and short term. Feedback is not simply ‘given to’ students; the responsibility for assessment is shared, students take greater control of their own learning and become active participants in dialogue.
Watch out for
As with all feedback processes, good course design is essential. If the process of working on feedback is not explicitly linked to learning outcomes as part of a Constructive Alignment (Constructive Alignment) process then students will not see the value.
Examples
In their project ‘Closing the feedback loop: supporting dialogue and action on feedback’, the University of Dundee uses a combination of an assignment cover sheet and a reflective journal to achieve this on one online programme. This notion of closing the feedback loop is also addressed by Walvoord et al.[4] in their paper on classroom-based assessment.
The JISC website on feed forward and feed-back provides examples and a broad overview of approaches and mechanisms (see https://www.jisc.ac.uk/guides/feedback-and-feed-forward) which describes how:
“Students use the cover sheet to reflect on how well they think they have met the criteria and indicate how previous feedback has influenced this assignment. Following feedback from the tutor they use a wiki to reflect on how the tutor feedback related to their self-evaluation, what lessons they have learned and what future actions they will take. This ‘scaffolded’ approach has resulted in qualitative improvements in learning and staff satisfaction.” (JISC)
One approach that explicitly focuses on the distance travelled towards a predetermined goal is known as ‘ipsative’ assessment. Here, tutors and learners to acknowledge personal progress by comparing previous and current work, regardless of overall achievement[5].
Related patterns
This pattern can implement Try Once, Refine Once (Try Once, Refine Once)[6] which provides the student with an opportunity to act on feedback and potentially improve their summative grade.
References
- ↑ Patlet published in Warburton, S., Mor, Y., Kohls, C., Köppe, C., & Bergin, J. (2016). Assessment driven course design: a pattern validation workshop. Presented at 8th Biennial Conference of EARLI SIG 1: Assessment & Evaluation. Munich, Germany.
- ↑ Pattern published in Warburton, S., Bergin, J., Kohls, C., Köppe, C., & Mor, Y. (2016). Dialogical Assessment Patterns for Learning from Others. In Proceedings of the 10th Travelling Conference on Pattern Languages of Programs (VikingPLoP 2016). New York:ACM.
- ↑ Orsmond, P., Maw, S. J., Park, J. R., Gomez, S., & Crook, A. C. (2013). Moving feedback forward: theory to practice. Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education, 38(2), 240-252.
- ↑ Walvoord, B. E., Bardy, B., & Denton, J. (2007). Closing the feedback loop in classroom-based assessment. Assessing student achievement in general education, 64-70.
- ↑ Hughes, G. (2011). Towards a personal best: A case for introducing ipsative assessment in higher education. Studies in Higher Education, 36(3), 353-367.
- ↑ Mor, Y., Mellar, H., Warburton, S., & Winters, N. (Eds.). (2014). Practical design patterns for teaching and learning with technology. Springer.