Descriptive feedback: informing and improving practice in an assessment as learning context

This practitioner inquiry study explores the use of descriptive feedback as a means of ‘constructing the way forward’ (Tunstall & Gipps, 1996) for the learning of six students in a Year 2 classroom. The study was undertaken in a large independent school in a Victorian country town. A qualitative methodology was adopted for the study’s purpose of gaining insights into the interplay of factors that determined the students’ uptake of descriptive feedback. This included their responsiveness to ‘Thinkit-tickets’ — a self-assessment strategy developed by the researcher to promote reflective thinking, and provide evidence of the students’ affective and cognitive responses to their learning. The data collection methods involved: audio-taped semi-structured interviews; audio-taped in situ descriptive feedback conversations with students; non-participant observations conducted by an educational consultant to the school; a teacher journal and students’ written self-reflections (Thinkit-tickets). The study revealed that unambiguous immediate feedback, learning criteria and understanding the student’s individual perceptions of a given task (Muis, 2007) were key factors in determining the effectiveness of descriptive feedback. Data highlighted the connection between descriptive feedback and the importance of engendering a classroom culture based on dialogic teaching (Alexander, 2003), and reflective thinking (Ritchhart, 2002) for promoting a self-regulated, metacognitive approach to improve their learning. The study also identified the challenge of breaking down the unequal power relationship between the teacher and students in order to facilitate learning through the co-construction of next step actions on the way to achieving specified goals. In conclusion, the study reiterates the call for further empirical research on the use of descriptive feedback within formative assessment practices (Black & Wiliam, 1998, Brinko, 1993; Hattie & Timperley, 2007; Rodgers, 2006). Recommendations are subsequently made for closer investigations of engaging with dialogic teaching to generate more effective descriptive feedback practices that build learner agency