“To be effective, feedback needs to be clear, purposeful, meaningful and compatible with students’ prior knowledge, and to provide logical connections.”
John Hattie (2009)
We are constantly giving feedback to our students. We give written feedback, oral feedback, whole-class feedback, or one-on-one feedback. But what makes feedback effective? How can we ensure that the feedback we give to students is worthwhile?
Effective feedback should:
- Focus on what students are supposed to learn and how they should do it.
- Occur while students are learning and trying out new things.
- Be clear about whether and how students have met the criteria for success.
- Explain why they did well or what they can do better.
There are two main types of feedback: Evaluative Feedback and Descriptive Feedback.
Evaluative Feedback
Involves a judgement made by the teacher.
Approval: “You’ve done a great job on solving these equations.”
Disapproval: “You haven’t shown enough working.”
Rewards: Handing out gold stars, stickers, or merit tokens.
Punishment: “Do it again.”
Descriptive Feedback
Focuses on one learning outcome and makes a specific reference to the student progress or achievement, looking toward improvement.
“That is a good starting point for your investigation because it covers all the main points for an introduction. Now what could
you expand on?”
Providing feedback that evaluates performance (Evaluative Feedback) can shape how students see themselves. While it can enhance confidence in high-achieving students, it may make struggling students feel success is unattainable.
The way we offer suggestions for improvement through feedback plays a crucial role in narrowing the gap for students. The likelihood of improvement increases when we use feedback prompts that align with the specific needs of the student.
It’s important to keep in mind that any feedback should revolve around the learning goal of the task the student is currently working on. Descriptive Feedback has been proven time and time again to be most effective.
HOW TO USE DESCRIPTIVE FEEDBACK
Here is an example of how to use descriptive feedback in the classroom. In this example, the student has just learned how to find the area of a triangle and is struggling to get started. We start by giving a hint or a reminder to the student. If the student still doesn’t understand, we can scaffold the question for them and give them a tool to continue on their own. As a last resort, giving an example (whether going through one portion or referring them to an earlier example) could give the student the tools they need to continue.
STEP ONE
Reminder feedback prompt: Do you remember the rule about area we talked about?
STEP TWO
Scaffolded feedback prompt: What about the equation that says Area = ½ * b * h for a triangle?
STEP THREE
Example feedback prompt: Let’s substitute the pieces we have into our equation. The base is 5cm…
The most effective feedback discussions occur when the learner takes the lead. Both the teacher and student should collaborate to determine the appropriate level of support. Too little support can leave the student uncertain about how to improve, while excessive support might discourage effort.
Encourage the student to express their needs by asking questions such as
“Is the current level of support adequate, or would you benefit from an example?”
“Do you know what to do next?”
“What will you do if you get stuck again?”
After you have mastered descriptive feedback and using this in your classroom, you can look at different types of feedback (such as oral, written, peer, self, and whole class) and how you can make a difference with any type of feedback.
Caitlin Clock 
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