Learning Feedback Loops

This week I am working with colleagues on Assessment, Measurement and Evaluation feedback loops, which might align well with how many of us are planning for the new term. Carless (2019) shares a two-dimensional feedback loop in the article, Feedback Loops and the Longer-Term: Towards Feedback Spirals. The author "investigates feedback loops by using the concepts of single and double-loop learning. Single-loop learning tackles an identified problem, whereas double-loop learning additionally re-evaluates how the problem is approached (Argyris, 1990)."

The study (supported by Hattie and Timperley's work, 2007) suggested that feedback spirals represent an alternative way of analyzing complex, iterative longer-term learning processes. Implications focus on student self-regulation and the development of student feedback literacy. A loop implies an end-point, whereas a spiral implies something more ongoing and developmental. Feedback spirals involve students making sense of inputs from a range of sources over an extended period of time in order to improve work and enhance learning strategies.

The author reminds us that "Promoting the closing of feedback loops is facilitated by positioning assessment and feedback as fundamental elements of curriculum design (Boud & Molloy, 2013). When assessment tasks are designed to build on earlier tasks, and the links in a sequence are made explicit, students are more likely to draw on information from preceding tasks (Zimbardi et al., 2017)."

References

Argyris, C. (1990) Overcoming Organizational Defenses: Facilitating Organizational Learning. Allyn & Bacon, Needham.

Boud, D., & Molloy, E. (2013). Rethinking models of feedback for learning: The challenge of design. Assessment and Evaluation in Higher Education, 38(6), 698–712.

Carless, D. (2019). Feedback loops and the longer-term: towards feedback spirals. Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education, 44(5), 705-714.

Hattie, J., & Timperley, H. (2007). The power of feedback. Review of Educational Research, 77(1), 81–112.

Zimbardi, K. et al. (2017). Are they using my feedback? The extent of students’ feedback use has a large impact on subsequent academic performance. Assessment and Evaluation in Higher Education, 42(4), 625–44.