Believing in the power of Feedback for Feedforward

People say that the human mind is the most complex structure in the world. On a lighter note, a teacher's mind is one step ahead……unless they believe in the power of feedback for feedforward. With due respect to the entire teaching fraternity, I have gained this unusual perspective after spending more than two decades in the field of education and hearing from numerous students about their challenges in interpreting teachers’ thought process while evaluating students’  work.

This calls for focus on a widely discussed and known term called “Feedback” which has its twin brother (if personified) Feedforward. Why I mentioned that both are twins is that they are inseparable and one leads to another. Effective feedback will always lead to feedforward i.e. growth being visible in students’ work and/or skill set post feedback. Just think practically, whether it’s a ten year old student or a forty year old professional,  who would not like to improve if given the opportunity to receive detailed and clear input on his/her areas of improvement. That too when it’s a high stake programme like IB Diploma OR for that matter any other assessment in the world. To further elaborate the value of effective feedback for feedforward, I will weave my article into three W’s and one H ie. 3:1 format with W1 - What;  W2 & 3  - When & Where and H - How?

What is feedback or its twin brother feedforward

As commonly known, feedback for feedforward aims to develop self reflection leading to understanding of improvement areas and action (modification/amendment/enhancement) in one’s work and/or skill sets. What I just now mentioned is not a hidden secret and can be narrated by any educator, if asked upon, however the key to effective feedback for feedforward lies in remaining 2 Ws and 1 H.

When & Where to give feedback for feedforward

The million dollar answer is “whenever and wherever possible.” You can’t limit students' learning to only a classroom, or an assessment opportunity. For that matter, it is not limited to a specific medium (written/verbal or otherwise). Feedback for Feedforward can be given in any form, anywhere and at any time. The key to successful feedback for feedforward is its timeliness, continuity coupled with clarity.

How to give feedback

This is the most crucial part of the whole puzzle of feedback for feedforward. Thanks to Edtech portals like Managebac and AssessPrep. Over the years, I have observed teachers creating formative/summative tasks seamlessly on portals mentioned above and providing timely, detailed and clear feedback for feedforward to students. 

In fact with AssessPrep, the portal has moved one step further by embedding IB style questions (not copied from IB but using a comprehensive question bank created by a team of senior IB educators & examiners) with IB style marking schemes which are visible to students after providing their inputs. Hand on the heart, which teacher on planet would not like to avail this truly magnificent technological support provided by the above mentioned portals like AssessPrep and Managebac. However technology is driven and is dependent on its user hence we can’t undermine the role of teachers/facilitators in not only decoding the marking scheme for students but also ensuring that a similar rubric (as used in IB examinations) are used for grading. Additionally one cannot deny the value of anecdotal comments which provide context to students’ work. Generic comments - like ‘well done’, ‘good’, ‘can do better’ etc are of no use and lead nowhere in terms of improvement. These are ambiguous comments and do not convey what it means to be ‘good’ or where a student can do better (which part of the question and how). Furthermore these comments are subjective in nature and can vary from one facilitator to another.

Here are some subject wise examples of questions leading to effective Feedback for Feedforward. 

Beyond feedback on if command term/assessment objective expectations  were met, teachers can provide different feedback based on subjects such as

For Languages, teachers can provide anecdotal comments and specific feedback for feedforward on 

1. Languages

• How can analysis of a particular text be improved? 

• Which elements are missing and which ones to include? 

• What about writing style, features etc

• Where is the scope for improvement?

2. Humanities, teachers can provide specific feedback for feedforward on 

• usage of case studies/research for backing up students’ responses. 

• Were students able to provide ample real life examples? 

• What about conceptual focus - Was it present or missing? 

• Were graphs drawn properly? 

• Which areas in the graph/table/case study were not interpreted fully or correctly and/or effectively.

3. Sciences

• Were the Scientific law/theories applied correctly and effectively? 

• Were relevant examples given? 

• Were research or scientific inquiries cited, if used? 

• What about the relationship of dependent & independent variables, were these clearly identified and established?  

4. Mathematics

• Did the solution follow the prescribed mathematical theorems/rules? 

• Were identities applied correctly & accurately. 

• Were there any missing steps, if yes then which ones. 

• What about workings/rough work related to the question, were they shown? 

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To conclude, I would quote the words of Steven D Levitt who said: “The key to learning is feedback. It is nearly impossible to learn anything without it.” 

Thank you!

About the author:

Abhinav Awasthi , IB educator, Oberoi International School, Mumbai

Mr. Abhinav Awasthi cherishes the opportunity to live the dream of being an IB educator. The IB has given wings to his passion. He earned his bachelors of education degree, along with a masters of commerce, at an Indian university. He is a NEASC - CIS and NEASC - CIE Team Visitor, an IB programme leader and workshop leader. He has been a senior examiner for Business Management HL Paper 1 and the Extended Essay for a decade and a half. With his impregnable organizational, communication, interpersonal and leadership skills, he had led DP authorization in two IB World Schools and DP evaluation in his previous schools. He is currently based at Oberoi International School, an IB World school in Mumbai, India, serving as the IBDP coordinator.