Setting Objectives and Providing Feedback

1. Setting Objectives and Providing Feedback Wilton/Higgins/Burch

2. Setting Objectives Recommendations for classroom practice • Setting objectives that are not too specific • Personalizing objectives • Communicating objectives • Negotiating contracts

3. Setting objectives that are not too specific • Research suggests that learning goals that are too specific might actually constrain student learning. WARNING: Although it might be appropriate for some objectives to be very specific, teachers should review their objectives and decide if student learning could be enhances with broader objectives.

4. Personalize Objectives Basically this is differentiated instruction at work. • Objectives become powerful learning tools when they give direction to students but allow them some flexibility to further define their own interests within a topic. • Identify knowledge at a fairly general level.

5. Communicating Objectives • Short term and long term goals need to be clearly visible to students in language they can understand. • Goals need to also be communicated to parents.

6. Negotiating Contracts • Contracting with students to obtain specific goals is a variation on goal setting. • This is another form of DI because this gives students the choice of the vehicle to drive their learning. (At least the impression of)

7. Reflecting on Setting Objectives What is the purpose of setting objectives in the classroom? How do I set objectives in my classroom now? What do I do to communicate classroom objectives to my students? What questions do I have about setting objectives in my classroom?

8. Assessing the Impact on Students • Rubrics are one tool you can use to gage student progress • Teachers tools are listed on pages 180-183 to help assess their objectives.

9. Providing Feedback • Some education researchers believe providing feedback is the most powerful thing that a classroom teachers can do to enhance student achievement. • For feedback to be most effective it should be given specifically

10. Recommendations for Classroom Practice • Using criterion referenced feedback and explanations • Using feedback from assessments • Engaging students in peer feedback • Asking students to self assess

11. Using Criterion references Feedback and Explanations • Teachers should try to focus their feedback on specific types of knowledge and skill, help students understand how well they are doing as compared to a performance standard and give an explanation of why their work exceeds, meets or misses the standard. • Rubrics are effective tools for providing students with criteria that describes specfic levels of performance for declarative content (information) or procedural content (skills and processes)

12. Using Criterion references Feedback and Explanations • Rubrics help students know up front what they need to know or be able to do. • Involving students in creating rubrics helps articulate levels of performance in terms students understand, so they know exactly what they have to know or be able to do, and encourages them to clear up misconceptions before they begin to work.

13. Using Feedback from Assessments • Ideally scores from assessments should be used to determine next steps students must take to improve their learning. • Give timely feedback. • Explain what was correct or incorrect.

14. Engaging Students in Peer Feedback • The goal is for students to clarify for each other what was correct or incorrect in an assessment. • Students can also be involved in a review process during longer projects such are designing an experiment, writing a research paper, developing a mathematical model, or creating a web site. (figure 14.4 pg.189)

15. Ask Students to Self Assess • Can be as simple as asking students to score themselves on an assignment using rubrics or asking them to summarize their progress on learning goals at the end of a grading period. • In addition to rubrics, self assessment forms can be devised to help students gage their own progress.

16. Assessing the Impact on Students Rubrics are one tool to gage student progress Sample rubrics p.193

17. Planning Classroom Activities and Assessing Myself • Answering a series of questions will help you discover how you might use these strategies for providing feedback. (fig. 14.9 p. 194) • You can assess yourself using rubrics. (fig. 14.10 p. 195)