CREATING A POSITIVE FEEDBACK CULTURE
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Creating a Positive
Feedback T
Culture
Eight Practical Principles to
Improve Students’ Learning
BY HALLIE EDGERLY, JESSE WILCOX,
AND JACLYN EASTER
raditionally, teachers have used letter grades
and generic statements (e.g., explain, good
job) to provide feedback to students in the
science classroom. The Next Generation Science Stan-
dards (NGSS), however, call for an approach to sci-
ence teaching that is steeped in students acting like
scientists and engineers. As a result, science teachers
must also change the way they assess and provide
feedback to their students. This article provides prac-
tical principles on how to elicit evidence of student
learning, provide effective feedback, and extend stu-
dent learning beyond the assessment.
J a n u a r y 2 018 43
 Feedback principle 1: Assess
higher-order thinking skills
Because the performance expectations of the NGSS
require higher-order thinking skills (e.g., synthesiz-
ing, analyzing, creating, evaluating, and applying),
science teachers need to design assessments that go
beyond rote memorization. These types of assess-
ments could include projects, essay exams, verbal as-
sessments, lab practicals, and debates. Assessments
with higher-order thinking are usually embedded
within the science lesson, which provides multiple
opportunities for formative assessments before stu-
dents take the summative assessment.
During a motion unit in a physical science class-
room, for example, students may be asked to design
and build mousetrap cars. As students build the cars,
the teacher can ask scaffolding questions such as,
“What might be some sources of friction on your car?
How might you reduce those sources?” These types
of questions help students develop science and engi-
neering practices (SEPs), such as analyzing and inter-
preting data, identifying problems, and considering
solutions throughout the process (NGSS Lead States
2013). Additionally, the crosscutting concept (CCC) of
systems and systems models used in this unit allows
students to examine how the mousetrap car is a sys-
tem, the forces acting on the mousetrap car, and the
energy transfer between the car and the surroundings
(NGSS Lead States 2013). In turn, this gives teachers
the opportunity to provide feedback through open-
ended questioning such as, “In what ways is your
mousetrap car a system? How does it model energy
transfer?” In this sense, the teacher is both formatively
assessing students’ thinking and guiding students to-
ward enacting the SEPs and CCCs.
Feedback principle 2: Students must
understand the assessment
Feedback should help students understand where
they are in their learning compared to where they
need to be (Hattie 2012). To achieve this, the teacher
needs to clearly explain to students what is being as-
sessed. An approach using step-by-step instructions
44
and detailed rubrics often diminishes the cognitive
complexity and creativity of the task. Instead, science
teachers should work to strike a middle ground be-
tween vagueness and providing too much informa-
tion. One way to do this is to make the assessment
clear while ensuring it has open-ended components
and requires students to synthesize and apply what
they have learned in novel ways. In striking a middle
ground between too little and too much structure, stu-
dents will be more likely to have a clear understand-
ing of the goal, along with flexibility and freedom to
accomplish that goal in a meaningful way.
For example, in the first author’s classroom, stu-
dents applied their understanding of genetics via
a higher-order thinking assessment. In this project,
students showcased their work on a tri-fold board,
which included:
• a feature article they wrote themselves about a
fictional family affected by a genetic disorder;
• a genetic counseling summary they also wrote
themselves, based on an in-class presentation
from a genetic counselor;
• a pedigree, which depicts how the genetic traits
are passed down from generation to generation;
and
• QR codes linked to information about the
genetic disorder.
This project effectively balanced structure and
freedom: While students were required to incorpo-
rate all of these elements on their tri-fold board, it
was up to them to develop the content of each. Stu-
dents were provided with a list of non-negotiable
items for their project, but how they arrived at the
non-negotiables in the final product was not laid out
for them step by step, thus allowing the students to
exhibit their own creativity and thought.
Feedback principle 3: Be specific
How a science teacher provides feedback can greatly
influence the impact on students’ learning (Hattie
and Timperley 2007). Effective feedback includes
being specific, timely, and consistent, all while en-
 CREATING A POSITIVE FEEDBACK CULTURE

suring that students understand the feedback

(Black and Wiliam 1998; Hattie and Timperley
| FIGURE 1: Sentence starters and probing
2007; Mandouit 2016). questions for feedback
Specific feedback addresses gaps in students’
understanding (Mandouit 2016) and provides DCI sentence starters and probing questions
a direction for students to go to improve their
• Why doesn’t _______________________ make sense?
understanding. To ensure students process the
feedback, science teachers should target areas in • If _______________________ is the case, how can you explain
which the student needs to improve upon and _______________________?
areas in which the student did well (Chapuis
• How can _______________________ further demonstrate a
2012). The teacher should also make sure that
more accurate explanation of _______________________?
the feedback does not tell students exactly what
they should have done. Instead, feedback writ-
ten as questions can identify areas they need to SEP sentence starters and probing questions
improve upon while creating an ongoing con- • What questions do you have about what you just observed?
versation with the teacher (Wiggins 2012). Addi-
tionally, science teachers should work to provide • How might these questions help you learn more about
feedback on all three dimensions (see Figure 1 for the phenomenon?
sentence starters and probing questions). • How might you go about exploring these questions?

• How can your evidence of _______________________ help

Feedback principle 4: Give support your arguments?
high-quality feedback in a • How else might you communicate these results?
timely manner • How did the planning of your investigation change as you
Although many teachers know students benefit learned more?
most from feedback if it is provided in a time-
ly manner (Wiggins 2012), the difficulty lies in
CCC sentence starters and probing questions
quickly providing quality feedback. As science
teachers have to deal with time constraints, they • You connected _______________________ and
should develop time-saving strategies to help _______________________ together really well.
them provide effective feedback (see Figure 2). • You observed _______________________ about the structure;
how might you go about finding out the function?
Feedback principle 5: • What patterns are you noticing about ____________________?
Provide ongoing feedback • If _______________________ is the case, what might happen to
_______________________?
Providing feedback throughout the learning
process is necessary for a student to improve
their understanding. One way to formatively as- General feedback sentence starters and probing
sess students is during instruction. Open-ended questions
questions give teachers an instant assessment of
• While _______________________ was accurate, how might you
students’ thinking and allow teachers to provide
address _______________________?
students with instant feedback. Importantly, sci-
ence teachers have to create a classroom culture • Consider how_______________________ .
where students feel comfortable expressing • I thought what you wrote about ______________ was insightful.

J a n u a r y 2 018 45
 Rather than confirming, praising, or
rejecting students’ ideas, a teacher
could ask them to clarify, elaborate, and
apply their ideas to science learning.
their ideas, even if students aren’t sure the ideas are
“right.” See Figure 3 for some suggestions on encour-
aging student participation in the feedback process.
Rather than confirming, praising, or rejecting stu-
dents’ ideas, a teacher could ask them to clarify, elabo-
rate, and apply their ideas to science learning. In this
sense, even large-group discussions can be a way to
promote SEPs and CCCs, as the teacher engages stu-
dents in those practices through effective questioning.
For example, during an initial lesson in a unit on or-
ganisms, students spent time in small groups classi-
fying living and nonliving items in a way that made
sense to them. In whole-group discussion, students
shared their ideas and were given immediate feed-
back in the form of questions, such as:
• What patterns did you notice in the items you
grouped together? (CCC)
46
• You have stated you believe the items in this
group are living; what structures indicate that
that might be the case? (CCC)
• For the items you are having difficulty grouping,
what questions might you ask about them (SEP),
and what further evidence do you need to help
support your classification systems? (SEP)
Feedback principle 6:
Foster a growth mindset
As Chappuis (2012) explains, “it isn’t the giving of
feedback that causes learning gains, it is the acting
on feedback that determines how much a student
learns.” Giving students an opportunity to show
evidence of their learning, providing effective feed-
back, and giving students an opportunity to contin-
ue learning are essential parts of the feedback loop.
The sixth principle demonstrates the importance of
continued learning.
Carol Dweck’s (2006) well-known work on the
growth mindset applies to providing feedback to
students. The first author of this article once asked
students whether they wanted their homework to
be graded. All of the students who responded with
“yes” explained that they simply wanted to know
whether they were doing the task well. This yearn-
ing for feedback should be nurtured as a culture of
growth through what is said to the student, what
students say to peers, and how feedback is perceived
and used (Mandouit 2016).
When students begin to ask “how can feedback
help me when I don’t understand something, and how
about when I do?” while learning, they are more goal-
oriented in terms of their personal growth, rather than
when they only receive feedback at the conclusion of
a unit (Wiggins 2012). Dweck (2010) says, “students
with a growth mindset may tackle such work with ex-
citement, whereas students with a fixed mindset may
feel threatened by learning tasks that require them to
stretch or take risks.” Therefore, students with a growth
mindset are more likely to engage in SEPs such as ask-
ing questions, examining patterns, planning investiga-
tions, and using evidence to create arguments.
 CREATING A POSITIVE FEEDBACK CULTURE

Feedback principle 7: • An area I thoroughly understand is___________.

Students should have a role
After athletic competitions, athletes often watch vid-
eotapes of themselves to self-assess and improve
their performance for the next competition. Simi-
larly, students in the science classroom need oppor-
tunities to assess themselves so they can internalize
what they do and don’t understand. For example,
students benefit from metacognitive self-assessment
(Davis 1996). To do so, have students assess them-
selves with sentence starters, such as:
• The hardest part of this project is________
because_______.
• Some questions I have are_________.
• To answer these questions, I will__________.
• I know that I have learned
because_____________.
• My model demonstrated____________.
• The cause-and-effect relationship of my project
included___________.
• I will continue learning by ______________.
Engaging students in self-assessment can also
foster growth mindsets. When students accurately
assess themselves and have a plan for how to move
forward, they are more likely to see learning as a
process rather than a product. Students should also
provide feedback to their peers using metacogni-
tive questions, such as:

| FIGURE 2: Strategies for providing timely feedback

• Keep a document of “common feedback” for each assessment.  If the same issue is present in more than one
assessment, copy and paste the same feedback.  If you notice a trend across multiple students, these data can
help improve your teaching.

• If the same grammatical issue persists throughout a paper, rewrite one sentence for students, insert the reason
for the change, and encourage students to fix the issue throughout the paper.

• Give fewer, yet higher quality assessments that require extensive feedback.

• Instead of assessing multiple SEPs and CCCs on each assignment, be strategic about which SEPs and CCCs
make the most sense to assess in detail. Keep track of which SEPs and CCCs have been assessed in depth to
ensure you are assessing all of them in detail sometime throughout the year.

• Focus comments on the key issues and strengths of the assessment related to the purpose of the assessment.

• Use technology (e.g., comments and voice typing in Google Docs) to speed up how long it takes to provide feedback.

• When doing presentations, posters, or other assessments where students listen to each other, have students
provide feedback to their peers. The teacher can then provide overarching comments. Importantly, the teacher
should model how to provide effective feedback for his or her students.

• If you teach more than one class, plan your assessments so you don’t have multiple assignments coming in at
the same time.

• When doing lengthy assessments, have the students turn in drafts or portions of the assignment so that
feedback can be given on smaller parts, rather than on one large assessment at the end. Hopefully, this will mean
the quality of work is better as well.

J a n u a r y 2 018 47
 • What does the student understand?
| FIGURE 3: Strategies to encourage student
• What could the student do to improve?
• What questions do you have about the
student’s work?
• What are you still unsure of?
Finally, students should have an opportunity to
provide feedback to the teacher regarding the les-
sons, activities, and their understanding of the sci-
ence concepts. One way to accomplish this is to do a
“quick write” with a Likert-type scale. For example,
we occasionally list the activities we have done with
a 1–5 scale from “not beneficial” to “extremely ben-
eficial” along with a few open-ended prompts that
could include:
• “Explain why you ranked the above activities
as you did.”
• “What questions do you have about this unit?”
• “What should the teacher do differently next
time?”
• “What should the teacher continue to do and
why?”
48
participation
• Avoid cold-calling on students because this can
take the focus away from students processing the
question toward feeling anxious about possibly being
called on.
• Have students work in small groups and call on the
small groups to share ideas.
• Consider how all students can be a part of planning
and carrying out investigations.
• Rather than confirming or rejecting students’ ideas,
ask questions such as:
• If that is the case, how might that idea apply to
_________________?
• What do other people think of _________________ idea?
• Why does this idea make sense?
• How might _________________ be connected to
_________________?
• What do others think about this?
• What do you mean by _________________?
• How else could we say _________________?
• Privately encourage shy students to participate in
class.
• Privately discuss the pros and cons of participating
too much with students who overshare.
• Have students write down ideas in advance to discuss
with the group.
• Physically move the seating in the room into groups or
a circle when engaging students in discussion.
• Explicitly ask students why participating in science
discussions is useful for learning.
• Teach students how sharing ideas can help them
process science concepts.
• Using questions, push students to make connections
between concepts. Rather than just knowing a
concept, students need to understand how a concept
connects and applies to other concepts.

Students can quickly rank how beneficial they
found the activities and lessons and write a few sen-
tences regarding how those activities and lessons im-
proved or didn’t improve their learning.
Feedback principle 8: Using feedback
to improve student learning
Throughout the learning process, the teacher makes
decisions about where to go in instruction based on
the evidence of learning provided by the student.
Students also need to have the opportunity to use the
feedback to close the gaps in their understanding and
demonstrate growth. If students are having difficulty
with a concept after an assessment, for example, the
teacher may leave written feedback, ask scaffolding
questions, or have a one-on-one conversation regard-
Hallie Edgerly (hallieedgerly@gmail.com) is an eighth-grade science teacher and instructional coach at the Adel-Desoto-
Minburn School District in Adel, Iowa. Jesse Wilcox is an assistant professor at Drake University School of Education in Des
Moines, Iowa. Jaclyn Easter is an assistant professor at Grand View University in Des Moines, Iowa.
CREATING A POSITIVE FEEDBACK CULTURE
ing the misconception. Ultimately, this process of stu-
dents using feedback to improve should culminate
with the teacher and the student collaboratively look-
ing at the student’s evidence of learning to determine
whether he or she is prepared for the assessment. The
reassessment then should offer questions different
from the original assessment, but that assess the same
disciplinary core ideas (DCIs), SEP, and CCC.
Conclusion
When science teachers begin to amend their teaching
to align to the NGSS, their assessment and feedback
practices must also encourage students to engage
with the DCIs, SEPs, and CCCs. This enables teach-
ers to extend the learning and understanding of their
students beyond recognizing they have done a “good
job.” While providing effective feedback can be time-
consuming, the positive impact on student learning
and the classroom culture is worth the time. •
REFERENCES
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standards through classroom assessment. Phi Delta
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Chappuis, J. 2012. How am I doing? Educational Leadership
70 (1): 36–41.
Davis, E.A. 1996. Metacognitive scaffolding to foster scientific
explanations. Proceedings of the annual meeting of the
American Educational Research Association. New York.
Dweck, C.S. 2006. Mindset: The new psychology of success.
New York: Random House.
Dweck, C.S. 2010. Even geniuses work hard. Educational
Leadership 68 (1): 16–20.
Hattie, J. 2012. Know thy impact. Educational Leadership 70
(1): 18–23.
Hattie, J., and H. Timperley. 2007. The power of feedback.
Review of Educational Research 77 (1): 81–112.
Mandouit, L. 2016. Authentic feedback: What it is and isn’t.
Education Week. http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/
finding_common_ground/2016/08/authentic_feedback_
what_it_is_and_isnt.html.
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J a n u a r y 2 018 49
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