1. Online Workshop Giving Quality Feedback

2. Who will find this workshop useful?
curriculum advisors
primary and secondary teachers
AtoL facilitators
You can use this workshop
to update, review and/or reflect on teacher/student
interactions in the classroom
as a focus for classroom interactions with students
to support in-depth AtoL programmes in schools.

3. In this workshop you will:
explore how quality feedback can improve learning
clarify the purpose and value of quality feedback to learners
identify strategies that improve the quality of feedback to learners through a combination of readings and activities that you can do on your own or with colleagues.

4. Quality feedback should…
focus on the learning intention of the task
occur as the students are doing the learning
provide information on how and why the student understands and misunderstands
provide strategies to help the student to improve
assist the student to understand the goals of the learning.

5. Tunstall and Gipps (1996)
In 1996 Pat Tunstall and Caroline Gipps developed a typology of teacher feedback by recording and classifying the feedback given by teachers to the students. They classified feedback as either:
evaluative – involving a value judgment or
descriptive – describing what the student said or did.

6. Evaluative feedback Evaluative feedback:
involves a judgment by the teacher based on implicit or explicit norms.
promotes self-management and independence.
Most teacher feedback interactions observed were at the evaluative end of the continuum.
Examples of evaluative feedback:
“That’s a good essay.”
“You’ve done well.”

7. Descriptive feedback Descriptive feedback:
is task- and outcome-oriented.
focuses on identified learning outcomes and makes specific reference to the student’s achievement.
An example of descriptive feedback:
“That’s a good essay because you have covered the main points we discussed at the beginning. Now … which points do you think you could expand on?”

8. Typology of teacher feedback
Click here to see the Typology of teacher feedback (Tunstall & Gipps, 1996).
Click here to complete a typology activity.
The typology and activity are designed to make you familiar with the language of evaluative and descriptive feedback so you can use it to help students improve their learning.

9. Feedback
Look at the sample of student work from the English exemplar, ‘Table Manners’ (level 2).
Think about:
what feedback you would give to the student
what feed forward (next steps) you would suggest to the student
what curriculum level you would place this work at.

11. The New Zealand Curriculum Exemplars
Look up the exemplar Table Manners in your New Zealand Curriculum Exemplars folder.
You will find it under: Written Language, Poetic Writing: Personal Experience, level 2.
Have a look at the features of curriculum level 2 and the feedback the teacher gave to the student.
Look at the suggestions in ‘Where to next’ for assisting students to take the next learning steps.
How do these relate to the type of feedback from the Tunstall and Gipps typology?

12. Hawk and Hill (2001)
The feedback teachers give needs to be of a high quality.
When feedback is given in writing, some students:
have difficulty understanding the points the teacher is trying to make
are unable 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 this out.

13. Wiliam (1999)
Findings from Ruth Butler’s research on 132 year 7 students:
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 conclusion:
If you are going to grade or mark a piece of work, you are wasting your time writing careful diagnostic comments.

16. Clarke (2003) prompts Reminder prompt:
“How could you make this story flow better?”
Scaffolded prompts:
A sentence given with missing words.
A specific focusing directive or an open ended question.
Example prompts:
“What did he look like? … it would make your story more interesting…”
“How did it make you feel? ... happy? … sad?...

17. Sutton (1998) Sutton suggests effective feedback should:
be specific – both positive and critical
be descriptive, rather than evaluative
be offered as soon as possible after the event
offer alternatives or ask the learner to do so
look forward to the specific next steps to improve performance
encourage and plan for opportunities for the feedback to be used as soon as possible
involve the learner wherever possible, to improve the chance of feedback being understood and acted upon.

18. Notable quotes on formative feedback
If you want to know more about what other key researchers say?
Click here to find other notable quotes on TKI’s formative assessment page.

19. Feedback… in summary Quality feedback to learners:
focuses on the learning intention of the task
occurs as the students are doing the learning
provides information on how and why the student understands and misunderstands
provides strategies to help the student to improve
assists the student to understand the goals of the learning.

20. Feedback in your school
List the ways in which teachers in your school provide feedback to students about their learning.
Which of them actually help students improve their learning?
Which of them are evaluative and which are descriptive? (Tunstall & Gipps article)
What sorts of goals and expectations are appropriate to share with students?

21. Assessment references
Clarke, S. (2001). Unlocking formative assessment: Practical strategies for enhancing pupils’ learning in the primary classroom. London: Hodder and Stoughton.
Clarke, S. (2003). Enriching Feedback in the primary classroom. London: Hodder and Stoughton.
Hawk, K. & Hill, J. (2001) The Challenge of Formative Assessment in Secondary Classrooms SPANZ Journal, September 2001.
Tunstall, P., & Gipps, C. (1996). Teacher feedback to young children in formative assessment: A typology. British Educational Research Journal, 22 (4).
Sutton, R. (1998). School-wide Assessment. Improving Teaching and Learning. New Zealand Council for educational Research. Wellington NZ.
Wiliam, D. (1999). Formative Assessment in Mathematics. The Mathematical Association. Equals. Summer Volume 5, Number 2.