Evaluate 1 - Quality Feedback

Create: In your blog, provide or create a student work sample and accompanying feedback that showcases some of the expectations listed below and offers a sound example of quality, authentic feedback.

• Encouraging, customized feedback which propels the student to strive for better performance or for deeper thought and application
• Student data drives the feedback provided as individual feedback, as well as the class as a whole.
• Teacher is not only assessing current progress on individual items, but is also analyzing each student’s continuous progress from grade item to grade item.
• Instructor clearly strives to assist all students in meeting and exceeding expectations and considers feedback as the cornerstone of that success.

Artifact: Provide a student work sample and accompanying feedback.

In my blended biology classroom, I begin each new unit with a phenomenon or mystery. Before we begin instruction, students propose explanations based on prior knowledge or in some cases, research. As we progress through the content, students acquire knowledge and skills that will help them solve the mystery. By the conclusion of the unit, they use a lab, virtual lab, or other activity to develop and possibly model an explanation and then communicate their findings in writing or in a group discussion.

In a unit on cell transport, I introduced a phenomenon from our book titled, Death by Water. Essentially, a young, healthy runner drank too much water before and during a marathon, collapsed, and went into a coma. Students learn all about osmosis — the transport of water — in the unit and eventually conduct an osmosis lab. In the lab, a raw chicken egg serves as a model system of a cell. The shell is removed and it is placed in various substances to observe osmosis. This process hopefully helps students see that, like an egg placed in water, the runner's cells absorbed too much water and likely burst.

Below you will find screenshots from a collaborative lab report generated by a lab group in my honors biology class. After they submitted their report, I reviewed the Google Doc and placed comments or annotations in areas that needed attention. I used two Google Extensions called Doctopus and Goobric to assess the students' work according to a lab report rubric. (Read more about these extensions in this previous post). At the end of the Doc, I've embedded a rubric, along with a link to a .mp3 file with audio feedback.

The Google Doc includes embedded comments.

The Google Doc includes a rubric, written feedback, and a link to audio feedback.

To view the a live copy of the student's Doc (names removed), please click here. In the Doc, you should find embedded comments, a rubric, and a link to audio feedback.

Answer: Why is it important for an instructor to consider student performance data when providing feedback?  How can feedback be both observational and instructional?

I believe this example meets all the criteria for feedback included above.

• The feedback is customized to this individual group; it is encouraging while also pointing students to areas for improvement and deeper application (i.e. connection back to the phenomenon).
• The feedback is specific to the students' findings, both qualitative and quantitative. I address issues in their data table as well as shortcomings in their qualitative conclusions.
• When individualized feedback is shared, it is given with the whole class in mind. Students compared results with other groups before writing their reports.
• The feedback is for the improvement of this individual task, and toward future success in future labs and lab reports.
• The comments and the rubrics are very specific to ensure students understand what excellence looks like and how to attain it.

When giving feedback, I believe that it's important to consider student performance data on an individual assignment and performance over time because the goal in instruction is to see growth. When looking at a standards-aligned assignment, we must consider how student performance compares to any previous assignments as well as toward the desired outcome. If a student's score is less than satisfactory but still better than a previous attempt, then growth is happening! That's is reason to provide encouragement in our feedback. In the opposite scenario, if a student scores lower on their most recent assignment than that have previously scored, it is a reason to investigate. Was this a valid assessment? Did the student really know the material in the first place?

Feedback on the exemplar above is certainly observational, as it is connected to specific observations about the groups' data, conclusions, and communication. But the feedback is also instructional, because it helps students make corrections to errors or misconceptions and make connections to the unit as a whole.