Anne MacNab, Professional Development Facilitator Confident Futures, Student and Academic Services Edinburgh Napier University Feedback for learning A new approach to awaken students to the value of feedback

A programme of high quality personal development activities which will encourage students to develop the confidence, skills and attributes to take control of their own lives and learning, and position themselves as first choice with employers. The Confident Futures initiative

2011 3% = 58% % = 62% % = 60% Feedback on my work has been prompt % I have received detailed comments on my work % Feedback on my work has helped me clarify things I did not understand % Sept 2010 – launch Edinburgh Napiers 3 year Feedback for Learning campaign

Making work for you Surely this has been done before.... over and over again?

Staff Response Student Response Staff briefings in November 2011 resulted in 11 bookings for workshops integrated into academic modules across almost all Schools in the University in the first 8 weeks of term UG and PG, > 350 students Q: How useful did you find this? very 67% Q: How much will this help you in your course? (1 low – 5 high) 79% rated 4 or higher

Feedback... is the lifeblood of learning Rowntree, D. (1982) K Cross (1996) suggests that learning without feedback is like practising archery in the dark Explain in your own words what you think these authors are trying to say. Small groups Workbook page 2 A lesson! At this point students can relate to sometimes putting more effort in for little improvement in performance

Making work for you

Step 2: Improvement actions planned Step 3: Feedback actioned Step 4: Performance improved Step 1: (Quality) feedback provided Why should I care? BARRIER to personal ownership But it hurts ! Feedback acknowledged Feedback understood

Workshop Outline Part 1:Understand the role of self-awareness of ability in learning - Consciousness Competence Model (Howell) - role of Feedback in developing competence Part 2:Build a self motivated and proactive attitude to feedback - Fixed and Growth Mindset (Dweck) Part 3:Experience action planning from feedback - application to module feedback Making work for you Why should I care? But it hurts!

Workshop Part 1: Understand the role of self-awareness of ability in learning - Consciousness Competence Model - role of Feedback within it

Write down 1 thing you did yesterday e.g. made breakfast answered s went to gym...find challenging to do at work e.g. presentations handling data managing meetings Workbook page 5

Conscious Unconscious Consciousness Competence Matrix CompetenceIncompetence 1 – Unconscious Incompetence the person is not aware of the existence or relevance of the skill area OR overestimates their ability level 2 - Conscious Incompetence the person becomes aware of the existence and relevance of the skill, and their relative low skill level in it 3 - Conscious Competence the person achieves 'conscious competence' in a skill when they can perform it reliably at will, but it still requires conscious thought 4 - Unconscious Competence the skill becomes so practised that it enters the unconscious parts of the brain - it becomes 'second nature' Interpreting financial data Delivering impactful presentations to peers Effort & Feedback Adapted from WS Howell, 1982 Workbook pages 6, 7 & 8 Managing meetings Effort & Feedback A lesson! Students often cannot describe what competence is. Developing an argument Used Mobile Phone Critical Thinking Structuring a report ? ? ? Now map your workplace challenges (page 8)

Workshop Outline Part 1:Understand the role of self-awareness of ability in learning - Conscious Incompetence Model - role of Feedback in developing competence Part 2:Build a self motivated and proactive attitude to feedback - Fixed and Growth Mindset (Dweck) Making work for you upset resistance ignore inaction

Mindset makes a difference Harness the power! Workbook pages

Believe their basic qualities, like their intelligence or talent, are simply fixed traits. They spend their time documenting their intelligence or talents instead of developing them. Believe their abilities can be developed through dedication and hard work - brains and talent are just the starting point. They spend their time seeking opportunities to develop and improve. Fixed Incremental Entity Growth The 2 Mindsets Dweck, C. S. (2006) the view you adopt of your ability to... Have you come across these in students? A lesson! This applies whether the student is high or low performing.

FEEDBACK FIXED CRITICISM EFFORT SETBACKS CHALLENGES SUCCESS of OTHERS Ignore (potentially useful) feedback Intelligent people shouldnt need to Evidence of poor capability. Avoid, in case of poor performance or failure Threatened and demotivated by it GROWTH Gives up easily Perseveres Feedback is opportunity to learn and improve The way to success and achievement Necessary path to learning. Embrace, as opportunity to learn and improve Inspired by and learns from them Workbook page 13

(low performing) Oh dear – thats very frustrating. I need to know where I went wrong T Gemma Fergus Assessment back – disappointing results (low performing) Oh no – I knew I was no good. I hope no-one finds out. Doesnt look like Im going to do well Thoughts Actions... ? Put essay away quickly Avoid feedback / discussion Loses confidence Reads feedback Speaks to tutor Asks talented friend! (high performing) The lecturer clearly doesnt understand what Im trying to say and is deliberately being negative (high performing) Oh dear – thats very shocking. I need to quickly understand where I went wrong What might Fergus and Gemma THINK and DO ? Workbook page 15

T Growth Fixed % % + FEEDBACK

Step 2: Improvement actions planned Step 3: Feedback actioned Step 4: Performance improved Step 1: (Quality) feedback provided Why should I care? BARRIER to personal ownership But it hurts ! Feedback acknowledged Feedback understood

Workshop Outline Part 1:Understand the role of self-awareness of ability in learning - Conscious Incompetence Model - role of Feedback in developing competence Part 2:Build a self motivated and proactive attitude to feedback - Fixed and Growth Mindset (Dweck) Part 3:Experience action planning from feedback - application to module feedback exemplars Making work for you

3. Live feedback 2. Personal previous assessment 1.Exemplars Three Routes to action planning Give out feedback (NOT grades) to recent assessment - with comments and / or feedback summary Bring prior assessment - with comments and / or feedback summary A happy surprise! Students form peer support groups on similar topics A lesson! Students often cannot express what a piece of feedback means. Workbook page 17 Use poor / medium / high performing examples of feedback or feedforward from relevant topics A lesson! Students sometimes struggle to identify an actual action

Academic Skills EFL Support Module Ldr

PG Student comments 1 month (and 2 assessments) later.... I had always read through my feedback carefully, but was not competent in applying it to future assignments. I feel that following this session I am improving in this respect [The session].. raised my confidence and understanding of the [learning] journey of writing assignments... I was enthusiastically surprised by the positive approach to help us move on. Yes - a good first result helped me... but the perspective that Im here to learn (and take risks)...was liberating [For Assignments 2 & 3] I ensured particular attention to areas that were highlighted in assignment 1. Realised it was a learning process "[In assessment 1].. rather than focus solely on the grade I also looked carefully at the areas that required improvement, and thought about how they could be worked on".

Anne MacNab, Personal Development Facilitator Confident Futures, Student and Academic Services Making Feedback Work for You - a new Confident Futures Workshop that awakens students to the value of feedback

Over to you.... In your groups please generate 2 key reflections from the session and write them onto your flipchart: 1.Feedback / ideas for Anne and Edinburgh Napier University 2.Any useful implications for TLA here at St Andrews University Small groups

References Howell, W. S. (1982). The empathic communicator. University of Minnesota: Wadsworth Publishing Company. Mangels, J. A., Butterfield, B., Lamb, J., Good, C.D., & Dweck, C.S. (2006). Why do beliefs about intelligence influence learning success? A social-cognitive- neuroscience model. Social, Cognitive, and Affective Neuroscience, 1, Further Reading Dweck, C. S. (2006). Mindset: The new psychology of success. New York: Random House Thank you for your time and attention