research on student feedback
Get set, go: Creating a successful grading and reporting system. of the feedback provided to students. when accompanied by standard or individualized comments from the teacher. Based on these results, Page concluded that grades can have a beneficial effect on student learning. Across the decades, battles have raged over whether teachers should put grades, comments, or both on assessments of student learning. Brumage-Kilcourse, E. (2017, December 1). Howell provides one example of feedback for a student whose literature review failed to include any empirical sources: “As a professional social worker making evidence-based practice decisions to help your clients, you will need to be able to identify interventions that are founded on empirical evidence, so you must be able to find research studies in the professional literature.” Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. “It wasn’t fair!” Educators’ recollections of their experiences as students with grading. Often, teachers look at the raw scores alone to tell how well their students did. The Student Feedback on the University of Newcastle (SFUN) survey is completed by all students every two years and gathers feedback on our University services, systems and facilities. , E. (2017, December 1). Put it into practice: Prepare students to be proactive about the feedback they want and the feedback they receive. The background and previous academic experiences of the students (e.g., high achieving versus low achieving). The subject area and content of the instruction (e.g., language arts versus mathematics, science, social studies, art, music, or physical education). Bloom, B.S. After returning work New York, NY: McGraw-Hill. A numerical score was assigned to each student’s paper and, on the basis of that score, a letter grade of A, B, C, D, or F. Teachers then randomly divided students’ papers into three groups. Second, and perhaps more important, it shows that these positive effects can be gained with relatively little effort. , M. (2016, November 29). Brookhart, S.M. Specifically, the effects were true only for students ranked in the bottom 25% of their class. Educational Measurement: Issues and Practice, 30. Note, for example, that the comment is not “. The power of feedback. Concise, prioritized feedback is more digestible for students and easier to internalize and implement. In J.H. ( Log Out / Note, for example, that the comment is not “You must raise this grade!” but “Let’s raise this grade!” In other words, “I’m with you in this!” and “We can do it!” Thus, it may not be simply that comments make a difference. Hence, they have no formative value whatsoever. No, students don’t need grades. Instead, they compel students to compete against their classmates for the few high grades the teacher will distribute (. The nature of the grades and comments and what each communicates (e.g., ego-involving versus task-involving). Grades versus comments: Research on student feedback. The message teachers communicate in their comments may be what matters most. Opinions on this issue vary widely among teachers, school leaders, and even grading and assessment consultants. Social-emotional learning advocate and writer with interests in implementation science, family engagement, educational technologies, SEL in higher education, and education policy. Hattie, J. First, we know that while grades certainly have their limitations, they are not inherently good or bad. In this article, Ms Tan Yen Chuan from the Raffles Girls’ School Centre for Pedagogical Research and Learning (PeRL) shares the student voices she has collected through various focus group discussions designed to uncover the kind of feedback that meets students’ learning needs. Invest in long-term needs, not short-term gains, Schools that stayed open: Lessons from St. Charles Parish, Regulating student speech in the Snapchat era, Rita and Julia: Contrasts in the art of teaching excellence, An opportunity framework for career pathway programs, For decades, the Kansas City Star failed to cover district resegregation efforts. A review of 131 studies on feedback found that over a third of feedback interventions actually decreased student performance. The message teachers communicate in their comments may be what matters most. Kohn, A. PDF | On Jan 1, 2003, D. Hounsell published Student feedback, learning and development | Find, read and cite all the research you need on ResearchGate The research is clear: improving feedback practices can significantly improve student learning and the quality of teaching in classrooms. Education writer Alfie Kohn, supported by the research of scientists Guy Roth and Avi Assor, worries that praise itself sets up a system of reward that disincentivizes the work that is being highlighted within that praise. The critical implication of the Butler study is this: Before making the sweeping recommendation “No grades; comments only!” we must, In a large-scale meta-analysis of the effects of feedback students received on formative assessments, Neal Kingston and Brooke Nash (2011) reviewed more than 300 studies addressing the efficacy of formative assessments in grades K-12 and found an average of only about 10 percentile points improvement (i.e., effect size = .25). Bloom, B.S. If the study had considered criterion-referenced, task-involving grades based on learning goals or ego-involving comments (such as “You need to work harder” or “This is one of the poorest papers in the class”), the effects might have been quite different. the student about a particular response to a problem or task compared to summary feedback, and it may additionally take into account the student’s current understanding and ability level. The study did not consider whether this is true for younger elementary students, for older secondary students, or for the 50% of 5th- and 6th-grade students who ranked in the middle of their class. Results showed that students’ interest and performance were generally higher after task-involving comments than after ego-involving grades alone or grades with comments. Results in this study were not entirely consistent, however, and revealed what researchers label an “interaction” effect. Some emails can basically provide generic comments to a whole group of students especially when one lecturer is teaching large group. A crucial but often missed aspect of Page’s study, however, relates to the nature of the teachers’ comments. Page, E.B. They can serve important formative purposes by helping students know where they are on the path to achieving specific learning goals. We are convinced that the grade of “A” as an index of mastery of a subject can, under appropriate conditions, be achieved by up to 95% of the students in a class. students. Stewart, L.G. (1958). Most educators believe that summative assessments are specifically designed for assigning grades to certify student competence and report on their learning progress (Brookhart &. & Timperley, H. (2007). To improve learning, Bloom emphasized that formative assessments must be followed by high-quality corrective instruction that provides students with guidance in remedying any learning difficulties the assessment identified. Phi Delta Kappan, 101 (3), 42-47. and those who got low grades based on their relative standing among classmates experienced diminished interest and motivation. Grading: The issue is not how but why. So rather than press teachers to define mastery anew, he simply asked teachers, “Tell me what you expect of students to receive a grade of A?” That level of performance then becomes the mastery expectation, Bloom believed different levels of “Not Mastery” were unnecessary, and he emphasized that this designation must. Comments like, “you’re so smart” or “you are an excellent writer” suggest to students that their work is a reflection of their own selves, and that it is their egos that are being judged rather than the quality of their work. Chappuis, J. Bloom, B.S., Madaus, G.F., & Hastings, J.T. This finding challenged the earlier claim that formative assessments yielded average improvements of 25-30 percentile points in student achievement (i.e., effect size = .70 – .90; see Black &. (1971). Inside the black box: Raising standards through classroom assessment. On the other hand, other form of e-mail feedback is sending electronic versions of the feedback forms of individual feedback to a particular student. Factors that influence the effects of feedback. In a large-scale meta-analysis of the effects of feedback students received on formative assessments, Neal Kingston and Brooke Nash (2011) reviewed more than 300 studies addressing the efficacy of formative assessments in grades K-12 and found an average of only about 10 percentile points improvement (i.e., effect size = .25). Results in this study were not entirely consistent, however, and revealed what researchers label an “interaction” effect. Human characteristics and school learning. The prescriptive portion describes what students need to do next to improve their learning. (1976). Journal of Educational Psychology, 49 (2), 173-181. Page, E.B. And what kind of feedback does students find useful? Guskey, T.R. Second, and perhaps more important, it shows that these positive effects can be gained with relatively little effort. also serve as “formative” sources of information that guide both students and teachers in improving learning. When schools create a culture of feedback, they “send a strong signal to students that they care about their point of view, while also creating opportunities to model how to productively receive and respond to feedback,” according to educational researcher Carly Robinson, a Ph.D. student at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Feedback should be concise and focused on the areas of strength and growth that will have the greatest impact on the student's learning. In this case, I will propose continuous practical work to be the most appropriate means of assessing student. As an extensive research review on feedback by John Hattie and Helen Timperley (2007) makes clear, the quality, nature, and content of the comments matter most. A number of schools, for example, have implemented 80/20 grading policies where 80% of a student’s grade is based on the results from summative assessments and 20% on formative assessments (see Brumage-Kilcourse, 2017; Stoskopf, 2016; Trembath, 2017). Hattie, J. , 1998a, 1998b; Hattie, 2009), regardless of whether grades or comments were used. Thus, it would be incorrect to treat this study as a simple validation of comments over grades. Specifically, the effects were true only for students ranked in the bottom 25% of their class. Midyear changes to grading system frustrate teacher, Linking grading practices and student performance, Teacher wants input on how to grade participation, Beyond standards-based grading: Why equity must be part of grading reform, How our word choices can empower our students. The second group received task-involving individual comments related to their performance on the learning task. Individual students’ beliefs about success or failure and their sense of self-efficacy (e.g., students who perceive their actions can influence the grades or comments they receive versus those who do not). Most educators believe that summative assessments are specifically designed for assigning grades to certify student competence and report on their learning progress (Brookhart & Nitko, 2008). Hattie, J. Students need to know what steps to take to make their product, performance, or demonstration better and more in line with established learning criteria. Grades help students identify where they are in their journey to mastery of important learning goals. ( Log Out / Identify what specific aspects of students’ performance need to improve. & Nitko, A.J. Studies conducted in later years confirmed these results (e.g., Stewart & White, 1976). The debate on grades versus comments extends to summative assessments as well. The latest headlines and updates in the world of social-emotional learning. New York Times. Effective feedback, whether in the form of grades or comments, must give students a sense of where they are and what they need to do to improve. Students need to know their teachers believe in them, are on their side, see value in their work, and are confident they can achieve the specified learning goals. Hence, they have no formative value whatsoever. Change ), You are commenting using your Twitter account. , T.R. (1971). Express confidence in students’ ability to achieve at the highest level. We all know from experience that the manner in which feedback is given affects the way it is received. In his earliest descriptions of mastery learning, Benjamin Bloom (Bloom, 1968; Bloom, Hastings, & Madaus, 1971) was very clear that students should receive only one of two grades on formative assessments: “Mastery” or “Not Mastery.” When pressed about what he meant by “Mastery,” Bloom recognized that any answer he offered was sure to draw criticism. Checking on students’ learning progress and providing feedback on results is just the start. In the learning context, feedback usually follows a test or an assessment. Check out this grading system for Senior High Students In Africa. Page evaluated the effects of the comments by considering students’ scores on the very next assessment given in the class. Collecting and using student feedback - a guide to good practice This guide is based on a HECFE-funded project undertaken by the Centre for the Higher Education Research and Information Segal Quince Wicksteed Limited and National opiniopn Polls on the collection and use of studentfeedback on quality and standards of learning and teaching in Higher Education. Based on these results, Page concluded that grades can have a beneficial effect on student learning only when accompanied by standard or individualized comments from the teacher. Even standard comments can have a significant positive influence on students’ performance. Student feedback literacy denotes the understandings, capacities and dispositions needed to make sense of information and use it to enhance work or learning strategies. ), Mastery learning: Theory and practice. There’s a … The impact of teachers’ feedback can go both ways, that is, positive or negative. 1. Given these highly mixed results, there appear to be few absolutes regarding the effects of grades versus comments. A short, early-session survey has been introduced to gather early feedback on your subjects. Stewart, L.G. Thus, by the end the student finish his studies, the teacher would have accumulated enough data to grade his level of proficiency. Several studies within the past decade have explored strategies for giving feedback in educational settings, resulting in a variety of research-backed tips for leveraging feedback to increase student’s motivation, performance, and self-esteem. when they are paired with individualized comments that offer guidance and direction for improvement. Handbook on formative and summative evaluation of student learning. Required fields are marked *, You may use these HTML tags and attributes:
. The role of feedback Page evaluated the effects of the comments by considering students’ scores on the very next assessment given in the class. Grades help enhance achievement and foster learning progress only when they are paired with individualized comments that offer guidance and direction for improvement. comments, so long as both met the criteria he described. Studies conducted in later years confirmed these results (e.g., Stewart & White, 1976). Feedback that attributes performance results to inherent traits like intelligence does the most harm to student outcomes. Bloom, B.S. Their conclusion about the impact of feedback from formative assessments was, essentially, “It depends.”. An introduction to student involved assessment for learning (7th ed.). View all posts by Nick Woolf, Very nice post! Ego-involving grades are about the student — in this case, about each student’s ranking compared to classmates — not about the learning task. Grades help enhance achievement and foster learning progress, If grades are to serve this important formative purpose, we must ensure that students and their families understand that grades do not reflect, . They are simply labels attached to different levels of student performance that describe in an abbreviated fashion how well students performed. Punished by rewards: The trouble with gold stars, incentive plans, A’s, and other bribes. (1968). Formative assessments alone, however, are insufficient, even if they are well-designed, meaningful, and authentic. be based on clearly articulated learning criteria; norm-based criteria. Teacher comments, letter grades and student performance. Barnes, M. (2018, January 10). Hence, Bloom advocated grades and comments, so long as both met the criteria he described. Grades derived from norm-based criteria — that is, ego-involving indicators of students’ relative standing among classmates — communicate nothing about what students have learned or are able to do. The longer, late-session survey has been updated and redesigned to strengthen th… Hence, Bloom advocated grades. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 58, An introduction to student involved assessment for learning. First, it illustrates that while a single score and grade written on students’ papers do nothing to improve their learning, grades with comments can enhance. Opposition to 80/20 grading system not waning amongst parents, students. Assessment in Education: Principles, Policy and Practice, 5. , D. (1998b). What we know about grading. Instead, they compel students to compete against their classmates for the few high grades the teacher will distribute (Guskey, 2006). Correcting errors. Express confidence in students’ ability to achieve at the highest level. & Stiggins, R.J. (2017). Keywords Feedback , grades , comments , assessments , formative , students , research High quality feedback can improve student learning by as much as eight months. Opposition to 80/20 grading system not waning amongst parents, students. Also important, Butler found, is the nature of the feedback provided to students. October 28, 2019. Like many issues in education, the truth is not as clear-cut as some suggest. Second, all of the comments stress to students that the teacher is on their side and willing to work with them to make improvements. View Student feedback Research Papers on Academia.edu for free. Phi Delta Kappan offers timely, relevant, and provocative insights on K-12 education policy, research, curriculum, and professional development. Papers in the first group received only the numerical score and letter grade. Informed judgments from teachers about the quality of students’ performance can also help students become more thoughtful judges of their own work (Chappuis & Stiggins, 2017). Black, P. & Wiliam, D. (1998b). The nature of the assessments (e.g., multiple-choice tests versus compositions, projects, skill demonstrations, or performances). We also know that grades should always be based on clearly articulated learning criteria; not norm-based criteria. Journal of Educational Research and Policy Studies, 6, Visible learning: A synthesis of over 800 meta-analyses relating to achievement. Kingston and Nash (2011) also discovered that the effects of feedback on formative assessments varied greatly from study to study, ranging from a decline of 35 percentile points (i.e., effect size = -1.0) to an increase of 43 percentile points (i.e., effect size = +1.5). Change ), You are commenting using your Facebook account. Feedback is also ranked number one intervention strategy in terms of its influence on learning by both Professor John Hattie and the Educational Endowment Foundation (EEF): in other words, their research shows that improving the quality of feedback given to students has the biggest impact on learning of any classroom intervention. Knowing where you are is essential to understanding where you need to go in order to improve. The second group, in addition to the score and grade, received the following standard comments with the associated grade: For the third group, teachers provided the score, a letter grade, and individualized comments that corresponded to the teachers’ personal feelings and instructional practices. This finding challenged the earlier claim that formative assessments yielded average improvements of 25-30 percentile points in student achievement (i.e., effect size = .70 – .90; see Black & Wiliam, 1998a, 1998b; Hattie, 2009), regardless of whether grades or comments were used. (1958). Opinions on this issue vary widely among teachers, school leaders, and even grading and assessment consultants. & Brookhart, S.M. , 2006). In other words, the influence of grades on motivation varied depending on the grade students received. Ego-involving grades are about the student — in this case, about each student’s ranking compared to classmates — not about the learning task. In his earliest descriptions of mastery learning, Benjamin Bloom (Bloom, 1968; Bloom, Hastings, &, , 1971) was very clear that students should receive only one of two grades on formative assessments: “Mastery” or “Not Mastery.” When pressed about what he meant by “Mastery,” Bloom recognized that any answer he offered was sure to draw criticism. The rest of the story. As an extensive research review on feedback by John Hattie and Helen Timperley (2007) makes clear, the, of the comments matter most. A study by Ruth Butler (1988) focused on the difference between ego-involving feedback versus task-involving feedback on students’ interest and motivation. Some are adamant that assessments, especially formative ones, must never be graded and should include comments only. … There can be different kind of email feedback. Kingston, N. & Nash, B. Task-involving comments, however, provide students with information about their performance on the learning task and offer direction for improvement. Kingston, N. & Nash, B. When analyzing the reasons for this variation, they found that the magnitude of the effects depended on the, (i.e., generally more effective in language arts than in mathematics or science); the, (i.e., slightly more effective in lower elementary grades than in secondary classrooms); and the, (i.e., professional development for teachers and computer-based formative systems appear more effective than other approaches). The students’ perspective Martin East The University of Auckland, m.east@auckland.ac.nz John Bitchener AUT University Helen Basturkmen The University of Auckland Research Online is the open access institutional repository for the University of Wollongong. In J.H. To improve learning, Bloom emphasized that formative assessments must be followed by high-quality corrective instruction that provides students with guidance in remedying any learning difficulties the assessment identified. It only takes a few minutes to fill in, and can even be done on a mobile phone. Feedback has long been recognized as a powerful means for promoting learning and growth in students. First, it illustrates that while a single score and grade written on students’ papers do nothing to improve their learning, grades with comments can enhance students’ achievement and performance. In recent years, research has confirmed what most teachers already knew: Providing students with meaningful feedback can greatly enhance their learning and achievement. The research on this issue is far more complicated and more highly nuanced than most writers acknowledge. Thus, it would be incorrect to treat this study as a simple validation of comments over grades. The 5th and 6th graders who got high grades continued to have high interest and motivation, and those who got low grades based on their relative standing among classmates experienced diminished interest and motivation. All students are expected to give feedback for each module. 2 Assessent: Feedback to proote student learning FEEDBACK ON STUDENT ASSESSMENT TASKS: COMMONLY ASKED QUESTIONS The following are some of the questions that staff members ask commonly and some responses based on the research literature: HOW CAN I ENSURE THAT STUDENTS USE THE FEEDBACK THAT I GIVE THEM? Kingston and Nash (2011) also discovered that the effects of feedback on formative assessments varied greatly from study to study, ranging from a decline of 35 percentile points (i.e., effect size = -1.0) to an increase of 43 percentile points (i.e., effect size = +1.5). Formative assessment: A meta-analysis and a call for research. The Mav. (1994). (p. 4). Phi Delta Kappan, 80 (2), 139–144. & White, M.A. (2019). ( Log Out / I humbly believe that traditional examination is not the best basis of grading students. Assessment and grading in classrooms. The potential of feedback to enhance students’ performance on a task, strategies, or learning has long been recognized in the literature.