Feedback. Formative, timely and appropriate feedback has been identified as the single most influential factor in helping individuals to progress. It should involve an understanding of the desired goal, evidence about their present position in relation to that goal and guidance on the way to close the gap between the two. To be effective, feedback needs to be clear, purposeful, meaningful and compatible with students’ prior knowledge, and to provide logical connections (Hattie, 2009).
This example from Diana Wilson at Cambridge International School Dubai shows an example of feedback and making the ACPs and VAAs explicit in their teaching.
Learners who are developing HPL skills were asked to mark key information from the questions and the reading insert to strategically plan before analyzing the given text. So their Meta-thinking skills were stimulated.
They have used the table of an annotated bibliography to summarize research journals and then synthesized two and more articles. Lastly, they have reflected on how the situation resonates with their context.
They have also worked collaboratively and shared their wider study with their peers.