Conceptualizing and developing feedback literacy

David Carless, University of Hong Kong

AHE Manchester, June 29 2017

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Aim of paper

To explore how teachers & students might co-operate to develop students’ feedback

literacy

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Overview

1. Feedback challenges

2. The nature of feedback literacy

3. Enabling activities

4. Possible ways forward

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SELECTED FEEDBACK CHALLENGES

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Feedback challenges

Lack of engagement with feedback

Difficulties in decoding feedback

Too much feedback as telling

Lack of strategies for using feedback

Structural challenges

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Feedback purposes

Students & staff have confusions over purposes of feedback & what it can achieve (Price et al., 2010)

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Dissonances & mythologies

Mismatches between staff and student expectations or beliefs about feedback (Adcroft, 2011; Carless, 2006)

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THE NATURE OF FEEDBACK LITERACY

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Feedback literacy

Learners need to acquire academic literacies to interpret complex ideas; & capacities to act on feedback

(Sutton, 2012)

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Assessment literate students

Interpret assessment expectations in similar ways to tutors (Price et al., 2012)

Understand that feedback effectiveness depends on their level of engagement (O’Donovan et al., 2016)

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Aspects of feedback literacyAppreciate standards & experience in making judgments;

Understanding feedback purposes & processes;

Capacity to generate & use feedback (Carless, 2015)

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Handling critique

Self-management skills, maintaining emotional equilibrium

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Action strategies

It’s only feedback if students take some action

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ENABLING STUDENT FEEDBACK LITERACY

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Enabling activities

1. Peer feedback

2. Analyzing exemplars

3. Honing self-evaluative capacities

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Teacher guidance

Teacher scaffolding

Peer feedback

Students often gain more from providing than receiving peer feedback (Nicol et al., 2014)

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Analyzing exemplars

Dialogue to develop student appreciation of the nature of quality (Carless & Chan, 2016)

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Self-regulation

Enhancing student ability to self-monitor work in progress

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Teacher role

Selling; Modelling; Guiding; Scaffolding

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Final thoughts

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Student feedback literacy

- Skills / capacities

- Developmental aspects

- Attitudinal dimensions

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<……...>

Feedback literate students

• Are developing a sense of quality

• Are developing capacities to judge

• Seek, generate & use feedback

• Are open to critique & want to improve

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Staff development

Dialogue & communication

Communities of practice

Leadership

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THANK YOU

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