Still, there is a trap that remains. Don't continue through your teaching career believing that assessment and feedback are one and the same. Assessment has it's place, it creates the benchmark or grade that has been achieved... For student and teacher alike, the feedback is considerably more important - it lays the stepping stones that allows the student to move forward.
It was our week to give presentations on how we had assessed and given feedback during one of our own classes.
My Video presentation can be viewed here
Once completed, we were paired up and sent to video ourselves offering one on one feedback, based upon a fictitious scenario linked to our specialist subject. We were encouraged to use the "Praise Sandwich" template.
Finally we were handed a piece of work that had been produced in college. Our job was to review it and offer written feedback - using the sandwich approach again.
In discussion afterwards, I raised a concern about the feedback model ( Praise Sandwich ). There seems to be an insistence on always finding something for the student to improve on. I am a firm believer in offering honest, constructive feedback. But if we are always trying to find some fault or flaw, the tutor may start to "nit pick", this can make the whole feedback process negative and possibly move the student to think that the praise elements are lacking sincerity.
While the model is very useful, like most things in education - one size never fits all. If it's good tell the student. If it needs work, tell them that too. If feedback is given with sincerity and tact it'll always move the student to add "width and depth".
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