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Edutopia
A Way to Increase Students’ Independence in Learning
When feedback originates with students, they can assess their current understanding and see what they need to do to improve.
By Kara Douma
July 6, 2020
High school teacher and student reviewing a book while sitting in a classroom
Cavan Images / Alamy Stock Photo
The trigger for feedback is often when students complete a
teacher-assigned task and then receive comments that ask them to make
changes. Students typically revise their work for the sake of boosting
their grade. Feedback in these cases has limited impact, since the
teacher told students what to fix. In Visible Learning: Feedback, John
Hattie and Shirley Clarke recognize that feedback is most valuable when
it moves from student to teacher. High-impact feedback begins and ends
with the student. It also takes off when it builds on student
strengths: What are students close to mastering?
Feedback can be hard to receive when someone is telling you what to
change. In a TEDx Talk, Sheila Heen explains that feedback can be
difficult because we want to be accepted for who we are right now.
According to Heen and Douglas Stone, three types of feedback include
evaluation, coaching, and appreciation, and focusing on those can help
teachers put students in the driver’s seat.
EVALUATION
Evaluation tells a student where they stand in comparison with
grade-level peers typically through a letter grade or score. To put
students in charge of evaluation, they should be the first ones to
score their work.
For example, in English class, students can use a standards-aligned
checklist on writing an effective argument to self-assess. After they
get their score, they select an area of interest (and strength) to
improve upon—this combination increases student motivation. Next,
students use a tool like this SMART Goals Handout to customize a goal
based on their self-assessment. The SMART handout asks the student to
consider who can help as they work toward their goal. When the student
reaches out to the teacher for any support, talk focuses on the goal
with the evaluation as evidence. Evaluation feedback in this way moves
from student to teacher.
COACHING
The Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD) establishes what a learner can
do independently and what they can do with some support. Through
self-evaluation and goal setting, this grows clearer as students try
out their goals.
Coaching feedback is a reflective technique within the ZPD. The type of
coaching that students need depends on their goals and the roadblocks
they face. Many times, students may need coaching that does not
directly reflect the content they’re learning. For example, the student
who wants to improve the clarity of their writing may need coaching in
time management strategies, not writing itself. This student knows that
their writing is too lengthy in lab reports and leaves the teacher
digging for the answer. The teacher might coach the student to put a
time limit on their work. Try out answering each question in a lab in
no more than 10 minutes.
The use of time limits will reveal roadblocks with which the student
can then receive some more help. For example, if they still can’t get
their point across in a concise way, they should note what happens in
that time. They might be rereading without beginning the response. In
this case, they need to reflect on their note-taking, reading skills,
or activity level during the lab. Allow students to drive the coaching
feedback in this way.
A tool to use during coaching is WOOP for Classrooms from the Character
Lab. This will help students quickly retool their goal based on
feedback.
APPRECIATION
Appreciation feedback helps students to develop a positive
self-narrative. They first need to appreciate themselves. They should
learn about the power of yet and the counternarrative. As they evaluate
their work and set goals, students should practice adding yet to “can’t
do” thoughts: “I am not a concise writer... yet.” Using the word yet
feeds into the counternarrative of reframing the story they tell
themselves. The inner voice needs practice in talking up the positives
and reframing the negatives.
In Make It Stick: The Science of Successful Learning, Brown, Roediger,
and McDaniel explain how learning something new changes the brain;
thus, making mistakes is the pathway to advanced learning. The
counternarrative moves from “I failed and am embarrassed” to “I learned
something new and am stronger for it.”
ALL FEEDBACK BEGINS AND ENDS WITH THE LEARNER
In Designing Your Life: How to Build a Well-Lived, Joyful Life, William
Burnett and David J. Evans mention a sign that hangs outside the
Stanford Life Design Lab that reads, “You are here.” It’s where we all
begin when seeking feedback. Students need to look around and verbalize
where they are now and then ask themselves these three big questions
posed by John Hattie: Where am I going? How am I getting there? Where
next? These questions can be posted above your classroom board or on
your digital course page for students to use daily.
Feedback begins and ends with the learner. If you teach students how to
use these tools, feedback reframe takes place by having the student sit
in the driver’s seat—they determine their current location, route, and
destination, and where to go next.
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