New Junior Cycle

Aims To understand Assessment for learning (AFL) strategies. To understand two types of feedback. To be aware of the importance of descriptive feedback

Effective Feedback should 1. Focus on what is being learnt (learning intention) and how students should go about it (Success criteria) 2. Occur as students are doing the learning 3. Provide information on how and why the student has or has not met the criteria 4. Provide strategies to help the student to improve

A typology of feedback Evaluative- involving making a value judgement Or Descriptive- describing what the student said or did and providing guidance for improvement

Evaluative Feedback Evaluative feedback involves a judgement by the teacher based on implicit or explicit norms Evaluative feedback may take the form of Approval: “That’s a good essay. “You’ve done well.” Disapproval: “ That’s not good enough.” Reward: Gold stars Punishment: “Write it out again.”

How does the student interpret the feedback? ‘a tick means he probably likes it’ ‘there is a lot of writing at the end—this means it is bad’ ‘this is one of my best because my hand writing is neat, I checked my spellings and I put in the date’

An emphasis on evaluative feedback can affect how students feel about themselves It can make good students feel better (and possibly complacent) And the less able students feel worse (and more sure that they will never be able to succeed)

Descriptive Feedback Descriptive Feedback: Focuses on identified learning outcomes and makes specific reference to the student’s achievement Looks towards improvement An example of descriptive feedback “ That’s a good introduction because you have covered the main points we discussed at the beginning….. Now which points do you think you should expand on?”

Most teachers feedback observed is Evaluative What type of feedback do you give????

Written feedback When feedback is given in writing, some students  Have difficulty understanding the points made by the teacher  Are unable to read the teacher’s writing  Can’t process the feedback and understand what to do next Asking a student to tell you what they think you are trying to say to them is the best way to check it out.

Marks versus comments Findings from research show  Students given only marks made no gain from the first to the second lesson  Students given only comments scored on average 30% higher.  Giving marks alongside comments cancelled the beneficial effects of the comments Research shows If you are going to grade or mark a piece of work, you are wasting your time writing careful diagnostic comments

Feedback Feedback can be delivered in different ways Positive comment Constructive criticism with and explanation of how to improve Positive comment

Allow students time to act on feedback

Effective Feedback Is initiated by the learner Focuses on the learning intention Occurs as the students are doing the learning Provides information on how and why the students understands and misunderstands Provides strategies to help the student to improve

To conclude!!!!! Feedback is most effective when it confirms for the students: their Strengths their Weaknesses where to go Next (and how) (S.W.N.)