Saying that feedback is foundational for teaching, learning, and improvement is like saying scones go really well with cream and jam; it’s obvious, it’s well known and you’ll not find anyone that disagrees with you. Feedback, when done effectively, can guide students towards better understanding, encourage critical thinking, and foster continuous improvement. However, providing effective feedback is often easier said than done and there’s more than a few reasons as to why that might be.
So, what constitutes effective feedback? Ideally, it should be clear, specific, timely, and actionable. It should guide students on what they did well, where they went wrong, and most importantly, what steps they can take to improve. That sounds great in theory and, again, no one would disagree with that. It can, however, be hard to achieve given the requirements that go into making feedback “effective”: Clear, specific, timely and actionable. Really targeted feedback is great but delivered after weeks or months post submission could mean that the student has forgotten the process and train of thought that got them to their original answer. Conversely, feedback that is provided straight away but is not specific to the individual's work also loses impact and leaves them no closer to finding out how to improve going forward.
And this isn’t a new or niche finding; students often express dissatisfaction with the feedback they receive as seen in studies by David Nicol et al., (2010). It's not uncommon for them to feel unsure about what to do next or how to use the feedback to think critically about their learning process. This dissatisfaction often stems from feedback that is vague, delayed, or not personalized (Janice Orella, 2006).
On the other side of the equation, teachers face their own set of challenges. With heavy workloads and large class sizes, finding time to provide detailed, personalised feedback to each student can range from challenging to near impossible. Consequently, they may resort to providing feedback at the classroom level, which can leave individual students feeling overlooked.
So, now we're all agreed that we know what good feedback looks like:
Now comes the challenge of putting this into practice and giving feedback that actually makes a difference. Providing personalised feedback at scale, as discussed, is no easy feat, but thanks to developments in artificial intelligence, a teacher can now augment their marking ability to bridge the gap.
Teaching and Learning Feedback Loop in Education - Educait
Educait, is designed to streamline the feedback process. It provides targeted, specific, detailed, and timely feedback, taking the burden off teachers while ensuring that students receive the guidance they need as a result of formative assessment.
Educait uses advanced AI algorithms to analyze student work and provide personalized feedback. It can highlight areas of strength, identify areas for improvement, and even provide examples of what good work looks like. This not only helps students understand their current performance but also guides them on how to improve. All that's required from the teacher is to have designed and assignment to test relevant competencies and create a marking rubric to assess submissions against.
For example, if marking an English Literature assignment asking students to "Describe the attitude of Scrooge towards poor people at the start of A Christmas Carol", an example marking rubric would be that an answer needs to have a clear topic sentence, refer to historical context, provide quotes and references to evidence points made and demonstrate insight and analysis into the author's intentions.
Moreover, Educait encourages students to reflect on their work and take ownership of their learning process. By receiving immediate, detailed feedback, students can understand their mistakes and take immediate steps to improve, fostering a growth mindset. Additionally, Educait also builds in an opportunity for the student to acknowledge the feedback, reflect or even iterate on parts of their answer, all viewable in one place.
Finally, on top of the individualised feedback provided to each student, Educait also creates a classroom assignment report that summarises the most common feedback points across the class. This allows educators, teachers and instructors the chance to offer class-wide feedback on the assignment or use the report as a resource in planning their next lesson.
Feedback is a crucial component of the learning process. With ever increasing expectations on students and teachers alike, the demand placed on the quality and quantity of feedback also increases. By harnessing the power of AI, we can ensure that feedback continues to meet the requirements that make it effective without adding to the workload of teachers, making feedback not just a formality, but a powerful tool for learning and improvement.
If you're interested in finding out about how Educait can help you with you marking and feedback workloads then feel free to email one of our team.