DLP’s Framing of Feedback in a Communicative Approach to Learning & Teaching – Formal and Informal; and Assumptions of Learners
Continuing on from my previous blogs (2020a) in this series, I present an update of my Learning & Teaching Philosophy + Practice.
Feedback – Informal
In a practical-based HE Learning and Teaching environment such as SAE Creative Media Institute, guiding the Learner by introducing topics, and then handing the learning over to them, creates a ‘conversation’ between the Lecturer/Facilitator and the Learners. Such a conversation adds a – positive – dimension to the classroom culture in their development of transferable (soft) skills: listening, considering, reflecting, talking, sharing, considering other points of view, issues others experienced, considering, reflecting, talking, sharing. etc
As the conversation is turned from the Lecturer/Facilitator back to the Learners; back to the Facilitator, and then back to the Learners there should be a resultant healthy balance in the learning experience overall, limiting Facilitator talk relative to Learner talk. [Note: My aim is for a 40% Facilitator talk: 60% Learner talk ratio at worst; potentially a 30% Facilitator talk: 70% Learner talk ratio]. In my experience, such a balanced ratio of Facilitator to Learner talk time, affords a balanced Learning Environment leading to exponentially greater learner experience; most noticeable with the Learner’s level of engagement.
A Communicative Approach to Learning (Millwood, 2013) facilitates the development of a healthy respectful classroom culture by reinforcing the importance of everyone’s experience – irrespective of being positive or negative (collegiality), active listening (engagement and collaboration), supporting other’s points of views (inclusivity) ; whilst also affording the development of the Learner’s voice (safe to express, and developing their articulation of ideas), and agency (self-referential learning) in their own creative practice process (Page 2020b).
I would challenge my fellow Learning & Teaching Practitioner’s delivering Lecture-centred presentations, who are over looking their need to pause the Lecturer-talk and engage the audience: how does one know what the audience – the Learners are understanding if you are not engaging them?
Learning checks are instrumental in this process of a Learning experience, and can be delivered in many forms. However, the most basic form is a verbal question of a specific person.
In my Educational Philosophy blog series, I outline the need to include – as part of one’s lesson (learning experience) preparation – a series of questions for the Facilitator to consider and prepare for as an essential part of their Lesson Planning stage. It is only through conducting Learning Checks of the Learners throughout the lesson that a Facilitator can evaluate the Learner’s Learning at any moment in time across the entire Learning experience.
The types of global questions I consider at this stage of planning are:
· At any point in time, how will I best assess the learners are learning?
· What prompting questions could I use to assist the formative assessment process?
· What clarifying questions could I use to assist the formative assessment process?
· What probing questions could I use to assist the formative assessment process?
· What concept checking questions could I use to assist the formative assessment process?
· Essentially, how will I identify if the learners have actually learnt the objective of the task?
(Page, 2015a)
For example, in a Learning & Teaching environment with a Communicative Approach the learning experience may follow a structure along the lines of:
Part A
– Facilitator contextualises the content for this Learning Experience by asking a number of questions seeking responses from the Learners of what they know about the topic at this point in time
– Facilitator provides Part A content
– Facilitator introduces Part A task
– Facilitator asks a number of questions seeking responses from the Learners that they have understood the Part A task
– Learners – in pairs an/or individually – complete task Part A task
– Learners report back to each other with their Part A task
– Facilitator moves around the room to listen in on the type of Learner peer interaction is occurring
– Learners report back to the group with their Part A task experience, observations and comments
– The class and Facilitator provide feedback, further observations, resolve any issues, answer specific questions to each pair and/or individual
Part B
– Facilitator contextualises the content for this Learning Experience by asking a number of questions seeking responses from the Learners of what they know about the topic – Part B – at this point in time
– Facilitator provides Part B content
– Facilitator introduces Part B task
– Facilitator asks a number of questions seeking responses from the Learners that they have understood the Part B task
– Learners – in pairs an/or individually – complete task Part B task
– Learners report back to each other with their Part B task
– Facilitator moves around the room to listen in on the type of Learner peer interaction is occurring
– Learners report back to the group with their Part B task experience, observations and comments
– The class and Facilitator provide feedback, further observations, resolve any issues, answer specific questions to each pair and/or individual
Part C
– Facilitator contextualises the content for this Learning Experience by asking a number of questions seeking responses from the Learners of what they know about the topic – Part C – at this point in time
– Facilitator provides Part C content
– Facilitator introduces Part C task
– Facilitator asks a number of questions seeking responses from the Learners that they have understood the Part C task
– Learners – in pairs an/or individually – complete task Part C task
– Learners report back to each other with their Part C task
– Facilitator moves around the room to listen in on the type of Learner peer interaction is occurring
– Learners report back to the group with their Part C task experience, observations and comments
– The class and Facilitator provide feedback, further observations, resolve any issues, answer specific questions to each pair and/or individual
Part D
– Facilitator engages the Learners in summarising what they have learnt from this Learning Experience by asking a number of questions
– Facilitator summarises the total of these points
– The class and Facilitator provide feedback, further observations, resolve any issues, answer specific questions to each pair and/or individual
A Communicative (Active) Learning type lesson in my experience engages the Learners exponentially more, whilst also affording a more collegial, collaborative and inclusive learning experience for all of the class across this 35 minute session.
I would challenge my peers to integrate such a Communicative (Active) Learning approach into every one of their lessons in all situations, even if it means that he has to move more quickly over content. With a Communicative (Active) Learning approach, less (content) is (quite often) more – in terms of creating a more effective Student Learning experience, whilst also building of a collegial, collaborative and inclusive class culture.
Feedback – Formal
Formal Feedback in my opinion should be based around a well publicised and discussed assessment grading criterion document. This makes the grading levels – expectations and standards – transparent for all students well in advance of any submission due date.
Feedback should therefore contain elements of the Assessment Brief criterion, overall Unit Assessment Grading criterion, and some personalised comments.
Additionally, I believe a Learning & Teaching practitioner needs to consider each Learner holistically, as to who they are, their current level of agency (development), and their starting point in Learning; in order to more effectively position/frame that Feedback.
As Knowles et al (2012, pp63-67) outlines in the Andragogical Model for Adult Learners, six (6) orientations are proposed to differentiate Adult Learners:
1) The Adult Learner’s need to know;
2) The Adult Learner’s self-concept;
3) The Adult Learner’s prior experience as a learner;
4) The Adult Learner’s readiness to learn;
5) The Adult Learner’s orientation to learning; and
6) The Adult Learner’s prior motivation to learn.
Not all students have the same starting point in Learning, and therefore their level of agency (development across different skillsets and competencies) will differ individually at any point in time (Page, 2020b).
In my Doctorate I investigated subjectivity: how each individual person derives meaning in any situational experience directly relating to their prior experience, and their interpretations of that experience. One’s interpretation of an experience is directly related to one’s holistic makeup of biology, psychology, and cognitive faculties; and their affect (emotional disposition and make up) (Page, 2019).
Therefore providing effective Feedback to a class of Learners is a highly complex process.
A question arises: will the Learner receive the spirit of the communicated feedback as the Lecturer intended given their level of developed agency?.
Often the intended feedback is not communicated effectively for a particular Learner; and/or received in a manner that a particular Learner is open to interpreting it as an accurate appraisal of their performance (written, practical, behavioural).
Learning & Teaching is a complex discipline, and I have found over many years; the more I develop, the more areas I discover I am in need of developing (Page, 2015b). Always, most notably, the areas I need to develop are that of communication – transferable (soft) skills – including that of increasing my understanding of human behaviour in order to better understand – and engage with – individual Learners. Social norms regarding differentiated Learners has exponentially increased across my Learning & Teaching Practitioner career; and I see no end to this trend.
For me, THIS is the exciting challenge of being a professional Learning & Teaching Practitioner: the need for constant, and never-ending research of Self and Learning & Teaching Practice in order to better understand how to engage all human Learners at any moment in time ……
References
Knowles, Malcolm S, Elwood F Holton III and Richard A Swanson. 2012. The adult learner: the definitive classic in adult education and human resource development. 7th ed. New York: Routledge.
Millwood, Richard. 2013. Learning Theory v6_Millwood.D2.2.1.20130430 Accessed 28th March 2022
Onion image courtesy of: Onion Layers Accessed 28th March 2015
Page, David L. 2020b. Learning & Teaching Philosophy & Practice Part 4b Accessed 28th March 2022
Page, David L. 2020a. Learning & Teaching Philosophy & Practice Part 4a Accessed 28th March 2022
Page, David L. 2019. “Music & sound-tracks of our everyday lives: music & sound-making, meaning-making, Self-making.” In Proceedings of the 14th International Audio Mostly Conference: A Journey in Sound (AM’19), Nottingham, United Kingdom, 18th September 2019, edited by ACM (Association of Computer Machines), 147-153: ACM (Association of Computer Machines). doi: 10.1145/3356590.3356613.
Page, David L. 2015b. Educational Philosophy Part 2 Accessed 28th March 2022
Page, David L. 2015a. Educational Philosophy Part 3b Accessed 28th March 2022
