FEEDBACK

Shirley Clarke MEd, Hon DEdAssociate of the University College London Institute of Education

www.shirleyclarke-education.org

shirley@shirleyclarke-education.orgTwitter @shirleyclarke_

• Feedback is powerful but variable in its impact on learning• Feedback needs to fit the stage of learning: surface, deep, transfer• Feedback is about closing the gap between current & desired

learning • In-lesson feedback is more effective than post-lesson• High self-efficacy & trust are needed for feedback to be effective• Goals should be specific and challenging but task complexity low• Prior knowledge is the starting point for feedback• Students prefer immediate feedback but delayed feedback can be

beneficial• Student to teacher feedback is more important than teacher to

student• Grades or comments with no focus on improvement interfere with

learning• Effective feedback occurs when it is received & acted upon

Key issues

Teaching & Learning frameworks

Feedback Culture

In-lessonfeedback

Post-lesson

feedback

Teaching and learning frameworks

A FeedbackCulture

• sits within a formative assessment culture

• focuses on:

- task not ego- student self-efficacy- normalising error- challenge- trust- motivation- student voice- equity

Formative Assessment…Assessment capable learners 1.44Explicit success criteria .77Errors as learning opportunities .72Classroom discussion .82Teacher/student relationships .75Feedback .72Meta-cognitive strategies .69

Self - efficacy barriers

Error Struggle Praise

Rewards Ability labels

😟

🤐😡

🤡

John Hattie (2012)

‘Feedback is most effective when students do not have proficiency or mastery - and thus it thrives when there is error or incomplete knowing and understanding. Errors invite opportunity.They should not be seen as embarrassments, signs of failure or something to be avoided. They are exciting, because they indicate a tension between what we now know and what we could know: they are signs of opportunities to learn and they are to be embraced.’

Fixed Mindset - what not to say

Not everybody is good at math. Just do your best.

Growth Mindset - what to say

When you do a new kind of problem, it grows your brain.

That’s OK, maybe math is not one of your strengths.

If you catch yourself saying, “I’m no good at math,” just add the word ‘yet’ to the end of the

sentence.

How to encourage

Fixed Mindset - what not to say

Don’t worry, you’ll get it if you keep trying.

If students are using the wrong strategies, their efforts might not

work. Plus they might feel particularly inept if their efforts are fruitless.

Growth Mindset - what to say

That feeling of spelling being hardis the feeling of your neurons

connecting!

Great effort!You tried your best.

Don’t accept less than optimal performance from your students.

The point isn’t to get it all right away. It is to grow your

understanding step by step. What can you try next?

How to encourage

Panic Zone

Comfort Zone

Challenge Zone

Praise junkies

• depend on teacher approval

• have more eye checks with teacher

• are interested in social comparison with their peers

• less likely to tackle challenging tasks

PRAISE TYPE EFFECT SIZEGiven for something other thanengaging in the target activity - 0.14(e.g. being helpful)

Given for completing the activity - 0.39

Given for performing the activitywell against the various criteria - 0.44

Given for engaging but notnecessarily completing the task - 0.28

Meyer (2011)

69% of students prefer praise to be private17% prefer no praise

‘probably because most praise is given to teacher-perceived low achievers and most criticism to higher achievers.’

‘Ego - related feedback can undermine resilience, as it sends messages that it is the student rather than his or her involvement & persistence in learning that determines success.’

Hattie & Clarke (2019)

Key Message

Don’t give ego related feedback - only task related!

You are so smart! xGreat use of alliteration here…Could you now go on to improve…..? ✔

External rewards

External rewards lead to students who…• Avoid challenge when they have doubts about their

ability compared to others

• Tend to create an excuse for failure

• Concentrate much of their task analysis on gauging the difficulty of the task and calculating the chances of gaining favourable ability judgements

• Attribute difficulty to low ability

• Become upset when faced with difficulty or failure

Dweck (1989), Elliot & Dweck (1988)

N.WalesLearning Team

N.Wales Learning Team

N.Wales Learning Team

Hattie & Clarke (2018)

‘The research on the negative equity effects of ability grouping are damning. If you are in the top or bottom group, why invest in learning when the system has already made its decision?’

(500 studies = 0.12)

88% of childrenplaced into ability groups at age 4

remain in the same groupingsuntil they leave school.

N.Wales Learning Team

N.Wales Learning Team

N.Wales Learning Team

TEACHING & LEARNING FRAMEWORKS

Cognitive science

Learningintentions &

successcriteria

Incoming

information

Encoding

Retrieval

Forgotten

Rehearsal

Forgotten

Sensory Memory

Working Memory

Long Term

Memory

Spence, K.W. and Spence, J.T.

76490134258

Easing the cognitive load / helping memory

1. Teach students strategies for freeing up their working memories

2. Use worked examples (Rosenshine, 2012)3. Label diagrams; use auditory with visual, not visual with visual, model silently4. Break complex problems into parts5. Use prior knowledge starters, co-constructed success criteria and examples of good ones6. Ensure correct focus in the task7. Chunking rather than unconnected items8. Don’t give multistep instructions verbally9. Real life/concrete links/stories/analogies10. Give frequent low stakes tests/retrieval practice11. Interleave content - make connections with other areas12. Have key knowledge and skills accessible

Incoming

information

Encoding

Retrieval

Forgotten

Rehearsal

Forgotten

Sensory Memory

Working Memory

Long Term

Memory

Spence, K.W. and Spence, J.T.

1 8

9

7

6

5

3 42

1. Incoming information2. Sensory Memory3. Working Memory4. Long-term Memory5. Forgotten

6. Rehearsal7. Forgotten8. Encoding9. Retrieval

3 cm ?

4 cm

5cm

10 cm

?

Last lesson Last week

6.140 + 2.3569.540 + 2.0573.504 + 2.79029.04 - 35.019.004 - 3.014

Decimal Percentage Fraction

0.5 1/225%

0.75 3/420% 1/5

1/10

Last UnitFill in the blanks

Last term

The angle is 170ºAgree or disagree ?

7th September

Langford Primary School, Fulham

15th November

Langford Primary School, Fulham

Learning intentions and success criteria

What do I want them to learn?

What are transferable skills?

What are closed and open skills?

Where does knowledge fit in?

What would be a good way of learning it?

How will they know what good ones look like?

Sadler’s Closing the GapPossess a concept of the goal being aimed for.

Compare the actual level of performance with the goal.

Engage in some appropriate action which leads to some closure of the gap.

Sadler (1989)

Contextualised skill learning intentionWe are learning to write a formal letter requesting a reduction of the use of plastics in our district’s school lunch program.

Remember to include:

• reasons for your request (evidence about plastic in the environment)

• examples of unnecessary packaging at lunch

• persuasive language• suggested biodegradable

alternatives• financial implications

Can’t be transferredas skill is muddled

with knowledge

but

they need to know these for this task

so…

L.I. To write a formal letter(transferable skill)

Remember to include:

• the sender’s address• the address of the recipient• Dear Sir/Madam if name not

known or Dear Mr. Mrs. etc. if name known

• formal sentence starters (e.g. I am writing to inform you…)

• organize in paragraphs• end with‘Yours faithfully’…

for unknown name or ‘Yours sincerely’ if known

• Your full name at the end

Context: Plastic use in school lunches (knowledge)

Could be research skills, results of a project,

knowledge organiser, class discussions etc. in any

format

What you need to know:

evidence about the effects of plastic in the environmentexamples of unnecessary packaging at lunchpersuasive language and arguments biodegradable alternatives

Compulsory ‘rules’ skill success criteriaClosed Learning Intention: to punctuate speech

Remember to:

• start each new person’s speech on a new line

• put speech marks before and after speech

• speech always starts with a capital letter, but not after a linking phrase (‘What’ she asked, ‘are you doing?’)

• put full stops, exclamation marks etc. before the final speech marks

Optional ‘toolkit’ skill success criteriaOpen Learning Intention: to create suspense

Choose from:

• show not tell (e.g. ‘The hair on the back of her neck stood up’ rather than ‘She was scared’)

• short sentences to build suspense (e.g. ‘It crept towards me. Slowly. Menacingly.’)

• keep the threat secret or unrevealed (e.g. ‘She could hear something scratching’)

• place any characters in scary settings (e.g.) alone/in the dark)

Co-constructing success criteria techniques

• 2-3 excellent examples…what do you see?

• What went wrong?

• Demonstrate (doing it right / wrong)

• Good and not so good

• Eavesdropping

In-lessonfeedback

Student self-efficacyHIGH

Feedback received optimistically

Keen to extend skill level

LOW

Can react negatively to both positive and negative feedback

😊

😟

Giving is not receiving‘Many students are simply unable to understand feedback comments and interpret them correctly.’

‘Tell me what youunderstand from

what I said.’Specific, general,hurried,

impatient?

Is it fair,trustworthy,

kind,helpful?

Teacher Student

a) checking to see if the students understand the nature of the learning task and are able to evaluate whether the learning they are doing is good enough,

b) a constant quest to understand students’ understanding, rather than to assume, then to

c) facilitate appropriate feedback as a result of those findings

Where am I going?

How am I doing?

Where to next?How can it be improved?

Prior knowledge‘The most important single factor influencing learning is what the learner already knows. Ascertain this and teach accordingly.’

Ausubel (1968)

Prior/current knowledge whole class questions

• Range of answers• Agree or disagree?• Odd one out• What went wrong?• Convince another

student• Which is the best wrong

answer?

QuestionTemplate Example Example

Range ofAnswers

What is 5 squared?

Discuss:

5x5x5a pentagon5x25x55+5

Example

Which physical activities improve the efficiency of the heart? Discuss:cycling, walking, golf, swimming, skydiving,darts

Which strategies are likely to persuade? Discuss:evidence, bias, empathy, bullying, objectivity,bribery

Agree or disagree?

Friction is always useful.

Agree or disagree?

Say why…

The wind makes the leaves drop in the autumn.

Agree or disagree?

Say why…

45% of 365 is greater than 54% of 285.

Agree or disagree?

Say why…

Odd one out

Which of these is odd?

1/2, 25/50, 1/3, 3/6

Say why…

Which of these is odd?

slowly, carefully,bright,happily,

Say why…

Which of these is odd?

nuts, meat, eggs, lettuce, fish

What went wrong?

‘Look! Said Alice, ‘There goes the white rabbit!

(Picture of a circuit not properly connected)

Discuss…

18 x 5 =

10 x 5 + 8 x 5

50 + 45

95

Discuss…

The difference between an adjective and an adverb

Convince another student…

How photosyn-thesis happens

How you know that 1/3 is bigger than 1/4

Which is the best wrong answer?

Which is the best wrong spelling?

a) ejogb) edjhogc) heddhog

40% of 300?

a) 20b) 150c) 1200

What makes us grow?

a) the sunb) birthdaysc) food

Uncovering student understandingand reacting

•key questions and feedback on the move, pen in hand

•write up errors + solutions•whole class mc questions with mini whiteboard board responses

•random choosing then hands up• talk partner/group discussions•eavesdropping•allow interrupting when face to face

Feedback links tolearning stages…

Beginner Surface Cognitive

Intermediate Deep Associative

Advanced Transfer Automatic

- corrective, surface features

- linking ideas, using the right strategies, deep learning

- supports self-regulation, extending and applying

…and links to focus learning intentions

closed (specific/surface) ‘There is a spelling mistake in this line.’ ‘Check the date of that battle..’

open (application/deep and transfer) ‘What do you know about factors that could help you here?’ ‘Could empathy here be more persuasive?

When ready: self-regulation (self-management) ‘Now review and make any improvements

The most effective feedbackfocuses on:

• ‘The qualities of the child’s work and not on comparison with other children• Specific ways in which the child’s work could be improved• Improvements that the child has made compared to his or her earlier work.’

Crooks (2001)

Austin’s butterflies

Ron Berger (2013)

Exampleprompt(most support)

Scaffoldedprompt(some ideas)

Reminderprompt(probably enough)

Choose one of these, or your own:• The sea was blue-green, fiercely crashing

and raging.• The waves, white-tipped, ebbed and flowed,

receding into the distance.

• Describe the way the waves sounded using personification perhaps?

• Were the waves calm and gentle? Was the sound crashing and thunderous or the opposite?

• Complete this:The sound of the waves reminded her of…

Remember to use your senses in this paragraph

…and links to the support needs of the student

Timing•Less when ‘in the pit’

•Helicopter and land - carefully

•Delay for higher achievers - encourages further checking

•Closed or open feedback link to stages of learning

•Peer coaching at deep stage only

Prompts for being a good learning coach in English

•Is there anything you feel you need help with? •What impact on the reader do you want to achieve? •Do you think you are achieving this? •How successful do you think you have been against the success criteria?

•How can you include this aspect of the success criteria? •You could use a (e.g.simile/metaphor etc) here. Can you think of one?

•Can you think of a better word instead of_______? •Could you think of any adverbs to put before any verbs in your writing?

•Could you ask the reader a question in your writing?

Prompts for being a good learning coach in mathematics

•Have you followed the success criteria? •Can you demonstrate that this is the right answer? Explain how you know.

•Would a mini whiteboard help you? •Could you draw a diagram? •What is the rule for (e.g. rounded numbers)? •How do you know this number is (e.g. divisible by 2 / prime / a factor of 32)?

•Let’s talk through an example and go through the steps. •Ask me questions and interrupt me if you don’t understand. •Now can you do this example on your own? Talk me through it.

Hattie, Donoghue (2015)

‘An important strategy is when students become teachers of others and learn from peers, as this involves high levels of regulation, monitoring, anticipation and listening to their impact on the learner.’

Feedback to all studentsMid-lesson learning stops… with projected examples

- random work analysis- success & improvement- specific suggestions

See the illustrations on pages 1, 2, 3, 5 of The ArrivalShaun Tan

2006 ISBN 978 0 7344 15868

Hachette Australia Pty Ltd

Co-operative improvements

• One book on top of the other

• Author holds pen & makes the decisions

•Two/three heads are better than one

Post-lessonfeedback

Studentto

teacherfeedback

Crucial Questions

•What do your best teachers do to get the most out of you?

•What should I never, ever do if I want to work well with you?

Teacherto

studentpost-lesson

feedback

Kohn (1994)

‘Never grade studentswhile they are still learning.’

Grades

‘Such grading carries the message that the work is over.’

Hattie (2018)

Butler’s study (1988)…

‘The major issue is whether or not there are specific improvement suggestions and the opportunity to use this information.’

Hattie & Clarke (2018)

‘Feedback should be more workfor the recipient than the donor.’

Jackson, 2009

Travel topic writing (11-14 year olds)

1 Describe a setting in great detail, creating a particular mood or effect2 Use facts in writing to develop detail3 Use opinions to influence the reader4 Use exaggeration for a particular effect - shock, humour5 Select words to help create a particular mood6 Select less obvious words to describe things7 Develop the description by expanding the noun phrases8 Use a range of punctuation marks for effect9 Use punctuation to help create a specific effect10 Vary the tone of your writing to maintain the interest of the reader11 Vary the structure and types of sentences used12 Use figurative language (similes, metaphors, personification) for effect13 Structure and present the text in creative, imaginative and effective ways14 Develop a consistent style of writing across the whole text15 Create links across the whole text, such as a running theme or joke

Skill

Chris Curtis (2015)

A Write in clear sentences

B Use commas to separate parts of a sentence and for lists

C Use punctuation marks correctly (? ! “)

D Make sure commonly spelled words are spelt correctly

E Make connectives to link sentences together

F Use paragraphs to separate ideas

G Make your writing suitable for the audience - formal / informal

H Make your writing sound an look like the the text is supposed to be

I Use a range of sentence openings / lengths for effect

J Use a range of punctuation marks for effect

Chris Curtis (2015)

#Make the

denominators equal. Look for the LCM.

& ***

$XXX

Convert your mixed numbers into improper fractions

Cancel down your fractions

Remember to multiply numerator and denominator by

the same number

Check your times tables

carefully

Dave Gale (2018)

Cohen & Garcia (2014)

I am giving you this feedback because I have high expectationsand I know you can reach them.

shirley@shirleyclarke-education.org

Twitter @shirleyclarke_

www.shirleyclarke-education.org