Giving Useful Feedback
Feedback is one of the most powerful tools teachers can use to influence student growth and get their pupils into a productive mindset. With feedback a student can see what they need to improve, how to improve it, and engage in their learning. Goodwin and Hubbell (2013) note that providing feedback, "translates roughly to students scoring 28 percentile points higher on standardized achievement tests".
One of the ways in which feedback can be effective is if it is tied to learning objectives. When feedback is tied to learning objectives students can target the progress they are making in achieving their learning goals and buy into them. Goodwin and Hubbell (2013) note, "buying into learning objectives helps students view feedback-both critical and affirming-as essential to helping them accomplish their learning goals (Be Supportive, Item 7, I link feedback to learning objectives, para. 2). If a teacher ties feedback to a rubric and a student's personal learning objectives then it creates a positive loop.
Additionally, feedback needs to be noncontrolling. Controlling feedback happens when a teacher directly tells a student what to do in order to correct negative behavior, even if the feedback is phrased positively. Goodwin and Hubbell (2013) state, "even positive feedback from teachers can undermine student motivation if it comes across as coercing students to comply with the teachers wishes". (Be Supportive, Item 7, I keep feedback noncontrolling, para. 1) The differences between controlling and noncontrolling feedback are many, but the trick is in how the feedback is phrased. Goodwin and Hubbell (2013) give several examples, but the differences in the two tend to look like this:
Controlling Feedback
I'm disappointed in your performance. You should've done what I recommended.
Noncontrolling Feedback
I see you worked hard and put a lot of thought into that essay. It was college caliber. (Be Supportive, Item 7, I keep feedback noncontrolling, Fig. 7)
Feedback also needs to be growth oriented so that students can develop a growth mindset. A growth mindset comes from when a student feels challenged, whereas the opposite, a fixed mindset, stems from when a student rests on their abilities. These mindsets can originate from how a student is praised. If students are praised for their intelligence they tend to fall into a fixed mindset, whereas if a student is praised for their effort they will feel challenged and develop a growth mindset that drives their learning. Goodwin and Hubbell (2013) give examples of the kind of praise that can set these mindsets, for example:
Growth Mindset
Your practice is really paying off. You're really getting your math facts down.
Fixed Mindset
You blazed right through those problems! You're a real math whiz. (Be Supportive, Item 7, I make feedback growth oriented, Fig. 8)
Feedback can help get students into the right mindset, but if it is too general than it is useless and can lead to decreased motivation and negative learning outcomes. Therefore, teachers need to avoid giving feedback that according to the CSU-Global:
Goodwin and Hubbell (2013) provide several examples of proper feedback that is non-evaluative. Here is one:
Feedback
That time, when you hit the baseball, you kept your head down and watched the ball all the way to the plate.
Evaluation
You need to keep your eye on the ball and stop pulling your head away. (Be Supportive, Item 7, I keep feedback formative and nonevaluative, Fig. 9)
Feedback also needs to be timely. If a teacher waits too long then the feedback will not have any effect on a student's learning. Goodwin and Hubbell (2013) state, "researchers generally agree that in most circumstances, the more immediately feedback is provided, the better". (Be Supportive, Item 7, I ensure an appropriate level of immediacy with my feedback, para. 3) Therefore it is important that a teacher not wait more than a few days to provide feedback, depending on the complexity of the assignment.
Finally, a good way to get students involved is to have them self-assess and provide their peers with feedback. Goodwin and Hubbell (2013) recommend four ways that teachers can help students can do this:
In these ways feedback can be used to create positive, growth mindsets that can enrich learning and get students to buy into their education.
One of the ways in which feedback can be effective is if it is tied to learning objectives. When feedback is tied to learning objectives students can target the progress they are making in achieving their learning goals and buy into them. Goodwin and Hubbell (2013) note, "buying into learning objectives helps students view feedback-both critical and affirming-as essential to helping them accomplish their learning goals (Be Supportive, Item 7, I link feedback to learning objectives, para. 2). If a teacher ties feedback to a rubric and a student's personal learning objectives then it creates a positive loop.
Additionally, feedback needs to be noncontrolling. Controlling feedback happens when a teacher directly tells a student what to do in order to correct negative behavior, even if the feedback is phrased positively. Goodwin and Hubbell (2013) state, "even positive feedback from teachers can undermine student motivation if it comes across as coercing students to comply with the teachers wishes". (Be Supportive, Item 7, I keep feedback noncontrolling, para. 1) The differences between controlling and noncontrolling feedback are many, but the trick is in how the feedback is phrased. Goodwin and Hubbell (2013) give several examples, but the differences in the two tend to look like this:
Controlling Feedback
I'm disappointed in your performance. You should've done what I recommended.
Noncontrolling Feedback
I see you worked hard and put a lot of thought into that essay. It was college caliber. (Be Supportive, Item 7, I keep feedback noncontrolling, Fig. 7)
Feedback also needs to be growth oriented so that students can develop a growth mindset. A growth mindset comes from when a student feels challenged, whereas the opposite, a fixed mindset, stems from when a student rests on their abilities. These mindsets can originate from how a student is praised. If students are praised for their intelligence they tend to fall into a fixed mindset, whereas if a student is praised for their effort they will feel challenged and develop a growth mindset that drives their learning. Goodwin and Hubbell (2013) give examples of the kind of praise that can set these mindsets, for example:
Growth Mindset
Your practice is really paying off. You're really getting your math facts down.
Fixed Mindset
You blazed right through those problems! You're a real math whiz. (Be Supportive, Item 7, I make feedback growth oriented, Fig. 8)
Feedback can help get students into the right mindset, but if it is too general than it is useless and can lead to decreased motivation and negative learning outcomes. Therefore, teachers need to avoid giving feedback that according to the CSU-Global:
- Is evaluative
- Is composed of numeric scores
- Is vague
- Is praise
- Is advice
- Is summative in nature (Colorado State University-Global Campus. (2015). Module 5 - Interactive Lecture. In OTL 502-Learning theories and models of instruction. (p. 1).
Goodwin and Hubbell (2013) provide several examples of proper feedback that is non-evaluative. Here is one:
Feedback
That time, when you hit the baseball, you kept your head down and watched the ball all the way to the plate.
Evaluation
You need to keep your eye on the ball and stop pulling your head away. (Be Supportive, Item 7, I keep feedback formative and nonevaluative, Fig. 9)
Feedback also needs to be timely. If a teacher waits too long then the feedback will not have any effect on a student's learning. Goodwin and Hubbell (2013) state, "researchers generally agree that in most circumstances, the more immediately feedback is provided, the better". (Be Supportive, Item 7, I ensure an appropriate level of immediacy with my feedback, para. 3) Therefore it is important that a teacher not wait more than a few days to provide feedback, depending on the complexity of the assignment.
Finally, a good way to get students involved is to have them self-assess and provide their peers with feedback. Goodwin and Hubbell (2013) recommend four ways that teachers can help students can do this:
- By providing sentence stems such as "one thing that really confuses me is _____".
- Provide peer-assessment protocols where students give praise for one or two things and provide a suggestion
- Include self-and peer-feedback columns on existing rubrics
- Provide checklists (Be Supportive, Item 7, I provide opportunities for students to self-assess and give peer feedback, para. 2)
In these ways feedback can be used to create positive, growth mindsets that can enrich learning and get students to buy into their education.
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