Learner agency, feedback … and learning analytics

1. Learner agency, feedback …
and learning analytics
@CarlessDavid
University of Hong Kong
March 13, 2018
Digital Learning Summit, University
of South Australia
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2. Overview
1. The meaning of ‘feedback’
2. Barriers for effective feedback
3. Some feedback possibilities
4. Implications for Learning Analytics
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4. The University of Hong Kong
Productive assessment
task design
Appreciating what quality
looks like
Student engagement
with feedback
Learning-oriented assessment framework

5. What does ‘feedback’ mean?
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Information about performance
AND/OR
Dialogue
AND/OR
Action

6. Defining feedback
“A process in which learners make sense of
information from varied sources and use it to
enhance the quality of their work or learning
strategies”.
Carless (2015, p.192) building on Boud &
Molloy (2013)
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7. Key aim of feedback
To enhance student
ability to self-monitor
their work in
progress
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8. Internal feedback
Meta-cognitive processes deployed when
working on a task
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9. Closing feedback loops
It’s only feedback
if students take
some action
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10. Social constructivism
Interpretations of feedback information are
developed through learner agency,
dialogue, co-construction and sense-making
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11. KEY FEEDBACK CHALLENGES
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12. (Unfulfilled) Potential of feedback
Feedback as significant factor
in achievement (Hattie etc.)
Vs
Much frustration & dissatisfaction
around feedback
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13. Limitations of transmission
Feedback as telling is insufficient: students
not equipped to decode or act on
statements (Sadler, 2010)
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14. Failing to connect
Difficulties, especially for lower-achievers, in
making sense of feedback (Orsmond &
Merry, 2013)
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15. Timeliness
Conventional feedback often comes too late
e.g. at end of units/teaching sequences
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16. Start with the learner
Teacher-based models of effective feedback
are limited (Orsmond & Merry, 2013)
Student experiences of feedback are
individual, personal and changeable
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17. FEEDBACK POSSIBILITIES
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18. Analyzing exemplars
Samples to illustrate dimensions of quality
Showing rather than telling
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19. Connoisseurship
Dialogue around exemplars can support
students in developing a nose for quality
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20. Peer feedback
Potentially more
plentiful …
But peers often viewed
as lacking expertise
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21. Composing peer feedback
Providing feedback more cognitively engaging
than receiving feedback (e.g. Nicol et al., 2014)
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22. Sustainable feedback
Enhancing student capacities to generate &
use feedback (Carless et al., 2011)
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23. Designing for feedback
• Feedback designs
• Feedback within the curriculum
• Opportunities for students to use feedback
(Boud & Molloy, 2013)
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24. Student feedback literacy
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Making
Judgments
Appreciating
Feedback
Managing
Affect
Taking Action
(Carless & Boud, 2018)

25. Implications for Learning
Analytics
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26. Support for student use of LA
1. Integrate LA into learning design
2. Learner agency through goal-setting &
reflection
3. Reference frame (comparison)
4. Dialogue (including peers)
(Wise et al., 2016)
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27. The University of Hong Kong

28. LA for feedback at scale
• Mid-term personalised email reporting
engagement with learning activities
• Improved student satisfaction with
feedback
• Improved achievement
(Pardo et al., 2017)
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29. LA & feedback
Timeliness
Visualisation
Encourages self-regulation
Learner agency
Learning theories
Impact on learning
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30. Good feedback practice
Designing for feedback uptake
Development of student self-regulation for
sustainable feedback
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31. References
Boud, D., & Molloy, E. (2013). Rethinking models of feedback for learning: The challenge of design.
Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education, 38(6), 698-712.
Carless, D. (2015). Excellence in University Assessment: Learning from award-winning practice.
London: Routledge.
Carless, D. & D. Boud (2018). The development of student feedback literacy. Manuscript under
review.
Carless, D., D. Salter, M. Yang & J. Lam. (2011). Developing sustainable feedback practices. Studies
in Higher Education 36 (4): 395-407.
Nicol, D., A. Thomson & C. Breslin. (2014). Rethinking feedback practices in higher education: A peer
review perspective. Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education 39 (1): 102-122.
Orsmond, P., & Merry, S. (2013). The importance of self-assessment in students’ use of tutors’
feedback: A qualitative study of high and non-high achieving Biology undergraduates. Assessment
& Evaluation in Higher Education, 38(6), 737-753.
Pardo, A., Jovanovic, J., Dawson, S., Gasevic, D., & Mirriahi, N. (2017). Using learning analytics to
scale the provision of personalised feedback. British Journal of Educational Technology.
doi:10.1111/bjet.12592
Sadler, D. R. (2010). Beyond feedback: Developing student capability in complex appraisal.
Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education 35 (5): 535-550.
Wise, A. F., Vytasek, J. M., Hausknecht, S., & Zhao, Y. (2016). Developing learning analytics design
knowledge in the “middle space”: The student tuning model and align design framework for
learning analytics use. Online Learning, 20(2), 155-181.
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32. THANK YOU
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