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Thought leadership
Early childhood

Feedback

HomeSchool resourcesFeedback

Topic summary

Feedback is one of the most important teacher practices for improving student learning.

Feedback is information provided (by the teacher, a peer, a book or computer programme, or an experience) about aspects of a student’s performance or the knowledge they have built up from a learning experience. Learners can use feedback to confirm, fine tune or restructure existing knowledge, beliefs and strategies.

Well-timed feedback can support cognitive processes for better performance, including confirming or restructuring understanding, improving strategies, guiding students to more information, and suggesting directions and/or alternative strategies they could pursue in order to improve. Feedback can also engage students in metacognitive strategies such as goal setting, task planning, monitoring, and reflection, which are important skills for self-regulated learning. Feedback can influence students’ affective processes, improving effort, motivation and engagement

There is a strong and well-established research base on the importance of feedback to student learning. It is important to note that the research demonstrates that it is not the quantity of feedback that makes a difference but the quality of the feedback, and the ways in which students are supported to engage with, respond to and utilise the feedback to improve. 

Feedback should be user-friendly (specific and personalised), transparent, addressable, timely, ongoing, and content-rich. It also needs to be clear, purposeful, and compatible with students’ existing knowledge, while providing little threat to self-esteem.

Feedback should not only focus on the specific learning intention or task but also provide next steps for students, letting them know where they are going in their learning.

Task-level feedback describes students’ performance on a specific task and may offer students directions on how to acquire more, different or correct information. It is best given immediately. Process level feedback focuses on how the student has completed a task or created a product. It is particularly powerful for improving students’ deep processing and mastery of tasks and directing students towards more effective task strategies. Personal level is directed to the self and contains little task-related information. This is the least effective level of feedback as it rarely leads to more engagement, enhanced self-efficacy or better understanding of the task.

  • How often is your feedback to students linked to learning goals?
  • How often does your feedback guide ongoing learning by identifying next steps?
  • How often is your feedback conversational rather than just one way (teacher to student)?
  • Do you provide opportunity and time for students to respond to and act on your feedback?
  • Does your feedback tend to focus on effort or success?

Research reviews

How to integrate effective feedback into your classroom

A detailed overview of effective feedback, and how to improve the nature of the feedback you give your students

10 ways to give better feedback

A closer look at a set of strategies for improving the feedback you give students

Feedback checklist

A checklist designed to help teachers evaluate the kind of feedback they give their students

Webinars

Harnessing and enhancing assessment in schools

Professor Stuart Kime discusses the role of assessment in teaching and learning with a particular focus on practical strategies for how teachers can enhance their assessment practice and embed effective assessment into their day-to-day teaching.

Infographics

How to give effective feedback

The components of effective feedback at a glance – to print and share

Snapshots

Harnessing and enhancing assessment in schools: key ideas from Professor Stuart Kime’s webinar

Key ideas on effective assessment practice in schools from Stuart Kime's webinar
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