Are there any gaps between your practice of offering feedback to students and what Hattie recommends:
Oh I have no doubt there are some gaps. I imagine the largest gaps surface when trying to achieve the following two concepts:
1) Students from Socratic cultures “preferred more direct feedback particularly related to effort…and preferred more individual focused self-related feedback” (Sutton, Hornsey, Douglas, 2011, p. 8)
2) “The hypothesis is that it is optimal to provide
appropriate feedback at or one level above where the student is currently functioning” (Sutton, Hornsey, Douglas, 2011, p. 7)
I identified with these largely due to the idea trying to achieve them at the same time in my current teaching context. For one, I am usually teaching in a setting where the students vastly out number me and where time is limited. This makes it difficult for me to consistently individualize feedback on an on-going basis. Secondly, it is difficult for me to identify areas in need of feedback for each student. Generally speaking, my interactions with students are usually in the context of adding new content, information, or tasks. This often means there is little time for me to assess each students performance before moving on to something new. I could assess at a group level yes, but as explored but Sutton, Hornsey, and Douglas (2011), that has its own drawback.
In what ways can you improve the effectiveness of the feedback that you provide for your students?
I can attempt to improve my feedback effectiveness by continuing to incorporate the third feedback level of self-regulation. namely phrasing feedback in a way that encourages student self-reflect and self-discovery.
In my experiences working with students during their clinical practicum, I have had multiple opportunities to work with students during different levels of mastery. Through these experiences I can relate to the feedback levels described by Sutton, Hornsey, and Douglas (2011). The feedback level of self-regulation was always the ultimate goal, as it aligned with the ultimate goal of creating independent and reflective professionals. My ability to do this previously was supported by the reality that I worked with a low number of students and had a good amount of one to one contact. In moving to an online space this reality will change. I anticipate I will need to utilize more text based Socratic questioning to probe and identify where the student current is, rather than me provide the easier, but not as effective, level one feedback of task or product (Sutton, Hornsey, Douglas, 2011).
Hattie, J. (2011). Feedback in schools. In R. Sutton, M. J. Hornsey, & K. M. Douglas (Eds.), Feedback: The communication of praise, criticism, and advice. New York: Peter Lang Publishing. Retrieved fromhttp://visiblelearningplus.com/sites/default/files/Feedback%20article.pdf