What does feedback mean?
For feedback to contribute to development and growth, commitment is required from both teachers/supervisors and students.
For a long time, and perhaps still today, several people have argued that feedback means transferring information from the teacher/supervisor to the student about the student’s performance. Responsibility for effective feedback has rested entirely with the teacher/supervisor, who has also received criticism when the feedback has not been understood as intended. The student has been the passive recipient.
Today, we know that transferring information is no guarantee that the person receiving it will learn anything. To learn, the student needs to be engaged and take an active role in building their knowledge. This is reflected in the definition below.
Definition of feedback
► Feedback is defined as the process in which the learner gathers information about their performance. This is done to understand the similarities and differences between the quality of their current performance and what is required for a particular performance.
► The information should be usable to improve and develop their own performance (Boud & Molloy, 2013).
Purpose
The purpose of feedback is both to acknowledge good performance and to highlight opportunities for improvement and development. The feedback should help the learner reflect on what they can do, what they need to develop, and how this should be done. The purpose of feedback is positive and should support the learner’s growth.
To achieve the purpose of feedback, a good relationship between the parties involved in the feedback situation is required. Crucial to this is trust and confidence that the person giving the feedback has good intentions.
Interview: teachers and students
Teachers and students discuss what feedback is, what it means to them, and their thoughts on the importance of feedback.
(Video in Swedish)
Producer: Thomas Nixon.
What the research shows
Research clearly shows the importance of feedback:
- Feedback must be seen as indispensable for high-quality learning (Dai Hounsell)
- Developing a learning-centred framework for feedback literacy (Elizabeth Molloy)
Effective, meaningful learning requires engagement, participation, and trust. The article "Rethinking models of feedback for learning" by Boud and Molloy highlights knowledge creation from a constructivist perspective.
The message can be summarised as feedback:
- Has shifted from something where teachers provide information to something where students acquire information themselves, with teachers forming part of that process. From a teacher-led construct to something created jointly by students and teachers (from monologue to dialogue).
- Is based on collective participation, with a focus on student ownership (from a single source to multiple sources).
- Has moved from an individual performance to one that necessarily involves others (from individual to collective).
- Has developed from isolated occasions into a process over time (from separate units to a whole).
Exercise examples
This section presents a feedback situation that could be developed and improved.
What advice would you give to those involved in the situation? Feel free to compare your thoughts with how someone else views the situation.
(Video in Swedish).