Feedback has
become a key element for formative assessment and different approaches such as
Competency Based Learning, being the latter particularly the case of the
country I live by now.
Due to its
relevancy, we are going to have a brief analysis of definitions of feedback,
its types and how can we give effective feedback. Although this article will be
focused on VLE the recommendations below can be applied in face-to-face
lessons.
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| Credit picture Julian Mesa |
What is feedback?
According to
Wang, Tlili, Lehman, Lu & Huang (2021) feedback is the exchange of
information regarding to "improve learning performance, in order to
readjust student's cognition, motivation & behaviour"(p. 3; Máñez,
2020). Similarly, Wiggins (as cited in Peroukidou & Kofou, 2019) defines
feedback as "actionable information (...) empower(ing) the student to make
intelligent adjustment when she applies it to her next attempt to perform"
(p, 156).
We could claim
with no doubt that feedback is based on the socio-constructivist theory (Hughes, Wood & Kitagawa, 2014; Päivi & Hanna, 2017) which
underpins that learning is the product of individual knowledge
processing in conjunction with interactions with others in a given social context.
When thinking about
feedback we have to take into account its types, among which we have, Verification
Feedback, " is exactly how it sounds and is nothing more than the
instructor verifying that an answer is correct or incorrect" (Steele &
Holbeck, 2018, p. 3; Máñez, 2020), and on the other hand, Elaborative
Feedback, the purpose of which is not only to indicate whether an answer is
correct or not, but to give "explanations or clues about why an answer is
correct or incorrect without explicitly mention the correct
answer" (Máñez, 2020, p. 58) in this way knowledge is consolidated
helping pupils to "avoid the same mistake next time" (Steele &
Holbeck, 2018, p. 4).
Additionally,
Chetwyng & Dobbyn (2012) propose the following taxonomy of feedback:
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| Picture 1. A Taxonomy of Feedback by Chetwynd & Dobbyn (2012) |
As it is shown
feedback must not be only focus on content (concepts, theories, etc.) but also
on skills (verbal, numerical, planning). Although attention should be paid to
retrospective part, in other words, the current student's performance in
comparison with the goal set (Retrospective-on-content/skills), feedback
should also serve pupils to make future adjustments (Future-altering-on-content/skills)
and avoid the same mistakes (Chetwynd & Dobbyn, 2012; Hughes, Wood
& Kitagawa, 2014).
Why is it important?
We all must aim
to give Elaborative Feedback but if we face the reality this
is simply time consuming. But just focus on indicating whether the answer is
correct or not and add a congrats the type: "Excellent, good job! apart
from becoming a cliché, we will make students more dependent on the teacher to
know if he is doing well, returning to that old teacher-centered paradigm.
Moreover, several studies show that this situation generates greater
dissatisfaction in students by not knowing why they have obtained a certain
grade due to the lack of a quality feedback that shed light on what they really
need to know (Hughes, Wood & Kitagawa, 2014; Päivi &
Hanna, 2017; Carruthers et al., 2015).
For our
feedback to be effective first it should be personalised, in other
words, it must be based on relevant data we get from our student's performance
and why not to add student's name instead of just saying: "There is
something missing here", or "It was OK, but next time don't forget
to...". Our goal must be to give a pinch humanity to the message we want
to convey in our feedback (Trigonaki, 2019; Steele & Holbeck,
2018).
Second,
feedback should be given timely, which is as soon as the learner
has finished the task or activity that is going to be evaluated (Steele &
Holbeck, 2018; Trigonaki, 2019; Peroukidou & Kofou, 2019; Wang et al.,
2021) or even during the process of one task or activity having a great impact
on the final product. Different from a face-to-face lesson in VLE time is
really short and we tend to struggle to complete the academic plan or even
worse if you have book to finish before ending the year. However, it is
compulsory to give feedback as soon as possible to have the intended effect.
What can we do
so our feedback has the aforementioned characteristics and to be less time
consuming?
1. Giving
feedback to large cohort
Some of the
advantages are to give feedback to several students in a single lesson,
feedback can be sent as a written document or presented in class allowing the
interacting of students. Furthermore, we can adapt feedback to our group of
students and use data of other groups to help them avoid possible future
mistakes. Feedback can be posted on our LMS (Google Classroom, Canvas, etc.) as
material for future reference (Harris, 2017).
2. Audio
Feedback
Both in virtual
and face-to-face classrooms, feedback can be given in writing or orally.
However, thinking about giving feedback to each of our students can be utterly
overwhelming. Despite this, some studies on distance learning emphasize the
importance of giving Audio feedback, rather than written messages.
One of the
advantages we have by using audios is that we can add that needed humanity in
our messages thank to the use of our voice, something difficult for a written
message. Also, we can share more information for the same amount of time we
could have spent typing a message, above all if we are not good at it. And even
if recording an audio feedback took the same time as written feedback, Audio
feedback will always be more significant. This can have a positive effect on
our students because they will have a clearer and easier message to understand,
allowing them to be more committed and willing to respond to teachers' feedback
initiating a conversation about ways to improve his performance, increasing
autonomy, due to the socio-constructivist role of feedback (Carruthers,
2015; Päivi & Hanna, 2017).
How can we do
it? Some LMS, like Blackboard Learn+, have an built-in audio system to give
feedback. But not all our institutions are willing to invest in a platform like
that. In my case I use Google Classroom and Vocaroo (www.vocaroo.com), in case of the latter is because it allows you
record a large audio file for free and easy to use. After you record the audio
Vocaroo generates a unique link that is possible to copy and paste wherever you
need, avoiding uploading or downloading a heavy audio file. Thus, replacing in
this way written feedback with audio feedback, which contains a warm and more
understandable message for the student (Carruthers, 2015).
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| Picture 2. Teacher's view in Google Classroom when sending a Vocaroo link. |
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Picture 3. Student's view in Google Classroom when receiving a Vocaroo link.
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Conclusions
Feedback plays
an important role in contributing to a student-centered education, because it
not only allows setting the level of achievement but also provides valuable
information that can be used by students on future occasions in order to
improve their performance. Most of us are now teaching in virtual o distance
education contexts, for that reason to continue looking for new opportunities
to provide our students with valuable feeback is a must, takin into account the
socio-affective part that it plays, being this point greatly affected due to
virtual learning. If we make an effort to provide personalized feedback, on
time both in groups and in an individual basis, and using Audio Feedback, be
sure we are doing our contribution to education.
References:
Carruthers, C.,
McCarron, B., Bolan, P., Devine, A., McMahon-Beattie, U. & Burns, A.
(2015). 'I like the sound of that' - an evaluation of providing audio feedback
via the virtual learning envrionment for summative assessment. Assessmente
& Evaluation in Higher Education, 40(3), 352-370. https://doi.org/10.1080/02602938.2014.917145
Chetwynd, F.
& Dobbyn, C. (2012). Consitency v autonomy: effective feedback to a
very large cohort. Paper from the Annual STEM conference 2012. Retrieved April
27, 2021 from https://www.advance-he.ac.uk/knowledge-hub/consistency-v-autonomy-effective-feedback-very-large-cohort
Harris, N.
(2017) Providing efferctive cohort feedback on examinations. Cardiff University
College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences. Retrieved April 27, 2021
from https://www.cardiff.ac.uk/learning-hub/view/providing-effective-cohort-feedback-on-examinations
Hughes, G.,
Wood, E. & Kitagawa, K. (2014) Use of self-referential (ipsative)
feedback to motivate and guide distance learners. Open Learning: The
Journal of Open, Distance and e-Learning, 29(1), 31-44. DOI 10.1080/02680513.2014.921612
Máñez, I. (2020). ¿Influye la retroalimentación
correctiva en el uso de la retroalimentación elaborada en un entorno
digital? Psicología Educativa, 26(1), 57-65. https://doi.org/10.5093/psed2019a14
Päivi, R. & Hanna, V. (2017). Toward personal and emotional connectivity in
mobile higher education through asynchronous formative audio feedback. British Journal of Educational Technology, 49 (2), 292 - 304. DOI 10.1111/bjet.12587
Peroukidou, V.
& Kofou, I. (2019). The impact of feedback on Distance Education student's
learning process. Research Papers in Language Teaching and Learning, 10(1),
154-169. https://rpltl.eap.gr/images/2019/10-01-154-PEROUKIDOU-KOFOU.pdf
Steele, J.
& Holbeck, R. (2018). Five elements that impact quality feedback in the
online asynchronous classroom. Journal of Educators Online, 15(3),
1-5. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ1199171.pdf
Trigonaki, E.
(2019). Student's perceptions regarding the strengths and weaknesses of written
feedback in distance learning: The case of the TESOL M.Ed. of the HOU. Research
Papers in Language Teaching and Learning, 10(1), 170-187. https://rpltl.eap.gr/images/2019/10-01-170-TRIGONAKI.pdf
Wang, H.,
Tlili, A., Lehman, J., Lu, H. & Huang, R. (2021). Investigating
feedback implemented by instructors to support online competency-based
learning (CBL): a multiple case study. International Journal of
Educational Technology in Higher Education, 18(5), 1-21. DOI 10.1186/s41239-021-00241-6
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