Research School Network: Effective Feedback – the research evidence What does effective feedback look like and how to provide it
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Effective Feedback – the research evidence
What does effective feedback look like and how to provide it
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by Sandringham Research School
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by Karen Roskilly, Research Lead
We are just in the process of putting together our one-day course, Effective Feedback to Maximise Progress, so are once again getting stuck into looking at the research and evidence in this area.
As ever, two pieces of research remain central to understanding what effective feedback looks like and how to provide effective feedback:
1. Kluger and DeNisi (1996) conducted a comprehensive review of a wide range of studies looking at the impact of feedback. Unsurprisingly, it found that when done well, feedback can have a significant impact on student performance. What is particularly interesting with this review, however, is that it highlights the detrimental impact of getting feedback wrong – in a third of cases, feedback interventions did more harm than good. This clearly implies that it is vital for teachers to understand what the ‘right’ type of feedback is.
A full copy of Kluger and DeNisi’s review can be found here.
2. Hattie and Timperley (2007) also carried out a review of existing research into what good feedback looks like. They found that in order to be effective, feedback must answer three questions: Where am I going? How am I going? Where to next? The review also considered four different types of feedback and analysed their effectiveness – feedback about the person, about the task, about the process and about self-regulation. Again, unsurprisingly, feedback about the person is the least effective. Overall, they suggest that quality is important, not quantity – providing more feedback is not the answer. Teachers need to consider the nature of the feedback, the emotional response of the student as well as timing.
A full copy of Hattie and Timperley’s work can be found here.
