Effective feedback should focus on the learning intentions and success criteria, be timely, and provide guidance for improvement. Descriptive feedback is most useful, describing what the student did and how to improve, rather than evaluative feedback involving judgment. Descriptive feedback can take the form of reminders, scaffolds, or examples. When providing written feedback, teachers should check that students understand the feedback and ask them to restate it. Research shows that only comments without grades lead to improvement, as grades cancel out the benefits of comments. Feedback should highlight a few successes and one area for improvement, and allow students to act on the feedback.

1. Effective Feedback
Should:
-Be focused: Learning Intentions
(being learnt) and success criteria
(desired goal)
-Be given in the right time
-Provide guidance and strategies to
improve

2. Typology of feedback
(P. Tunstall, C. Gipps, 1996)
• Evaluative – involving judgment and can
affect how students feel about themselves
• Descriptive – what the student did and
providing guidance for improvement. It is
critical in ‘closing the gap’ for students

3. Types of descriptive feedback
(Clarke, 2003)
Based on the needs of the student and focused
around learning intention of the task, can be:
1-Reminder - calling back what was the lesson
about. Ex: Remember the rule about…
2-Scaffold – giving possibilities. Ex: Why don’t
you try using…
3-Example – giving clear examples. Ex: why
don’t you use a simile word as…

5. Written feedback
Some student could:
• have difficulty understanding the points you
want to make.
• be unable to read your writing.
• can’t process the feedback/what next
To check this out: ask them to tell you what you
are trying to say.

6. Marks versus comments
Research showed that:
• Only marks-no gain
• Only comment scored 30% higher (average)
• Marks and comment – cancel beneficial effects of
the comments
Research conclusion: If you mark or grade a piece
of work, it means waste of time adding diagnostic
comments.

7. Comment only
• provides students with a
focus for progression
instead of a reward or
punishment for their ego
(as a grade does).
• should make it clear how
the student can improve.
• Plan activities and work
with feedback in mind, let
the design assist the
process.

8. Too many comments
(Clarke,2001)
• makes difficult for specific feedback to be
given
• Overwhelming and difficult to take in
Clarke suggest that:
When giving writing feedback, highlight 2 or 3
successes and 1 area where improvement is
necessary

9. Strategies for effective formative
feedback

10. Feedback sandwich
1. -Positive comment
-Constructive criticism with
explanation of how to
improve
-Positive comment
2. Contextual statement
– I liked….because….
- Now
- Next time…
Interactive statement e.g. a
question based on the work

11. Allow student to act on feedback
• Use lesson time to redraft work.
• allow students time to focus on the feedback for
improvement .
• reinforce the value of the feedback and working
in a supportive environment.

12. Follow-up
• time in the lesson to talk individually.
• Have a written dialogue in the students’ book.
• Use a comment tracker or target sheet to
formalise the dialogue in a workbook
Learning Journal
• Create a learning journal in which they can
reflect.

13. Feedback summary
Effective feedback to learners:
• is best initiated by the learner
• 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.