Effective Feedback Loops Help Students Engage and Learn Actively

As teachers, we know that students learn and perform their best when they’re actively engaged in the learning process. While there are many different ways to make learning more active, one strategy we’re focused on is on establishing effective feedback loops between students and teachers. 

We’ve found that effective feedback helps students identify goals, evaluate and synthesize ideas, discuss their work constructively and take charge of their own learning. Students who have good, open communication with their teachers improve their metacognitive skills while developing their communication abilities. 

As the name suggests, feedback loops are conversations between students and teachers. This isn’t a one-way street; these are discussions that encourage student agency by positioning them as active owners of their learning. 

Effective feedback can help students learn how to learn. It can also help teachers improve their practices and instruction, and we’ve found that teachers who employ these strategies have more engaged and lively classrooms.

 

Feedback loop image adapted from Jones, Nelson, & Gerzon (2021)

 

To support active learning, we’ve written our latest white paper on effective feedback loopsThis paper summarizes the latest research, identifies best practices and provides tools and resources to engage students with effective feedback strategies. These strategies are practical and effective. They’ll encourage students to develop agency and will help teachers improve their instruction. 

We’re very excited about this research and the strategies we’ve identified, and we hope teachers find these tools useful. Sticking with the theme, if you have any feedback or questions on this paper, you can contact us at professionallearning@opportunityeduction.org.

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