EDUC 4206 Professional Experience 4: Teacher as Inquirer

Professional Inquiry Project Proposal

Pre-service Teacher: Melissa Mountfort ID no.: 110170872

Context

The school that I have been placed at is an independent, co-educational and inter-denominational school, located in
Adelaide’s North. It begins from reception to year 12, however, the school is divided into three zones, each with their
own resources: junior school, middle school and high school. Across all three zones there is over 1,400 students who
attend the school. The school’s core value is “Intentionally Christian, Inclusive and Excellent”, which aims to provide
an excellent, inclusive education that equips their students to serve God and his world. Although an R-12 school, the
junior primary zone caters for children from reception to year 5. I have been placed in a year 3 classroom which
consists of 28 students, 12 are females and 16 are males.

Plan

Area of inquiry: How can I improve my constructive feedback to promote student development in mathematics?

Upon reflection of the self-review of the standards, it was clear that there were a few areas that I personally wanted
to further develop. Many of the standards have been evident in my teaching and learning experience, although I
lacked wholly confidence to perform some of these standards to a graduate level. It was difficult to decide on which
standard I believed I needed the most improvement on. However, I decided to choose one that I definitely believed
would benefit my students. The AITSL standard of focus is, 5.2 Provide feedback to students on their learning:
Demonstrate an understanding of the purpose of providing timely and appropriate feedback to students
about their learning. This provides a foundation to improving my constructive feedback to promote student
development in mathematics. Feedback is a significant factor that can assist children in improving their mathematical
learning. It is important students receive feedback that is specific, productive and relevant to the task they are doing.
Throughout placements, I have provided feedback to students, although it was apparent that the feedback lacked
depth and refinement. Feedback was generally given verbally, and written feedback was usually just a simple praise
that did not allow students to improve their learning. It was often overwhelming thinking about giving students
feedback that could possibly upset them, so instead I constantly provided general praise that was not always specific
to the task. From this, I have chosen feedback as an area of improvement, to be able to provide timely and appropriate
feedback to students about their mathematical learning.

From various academic resources, it is evident that feedback is a significant part of student teaching and learning.
Groundwater-Smith et al. (2014) explains that ‘feedback is way of learning about ourselves’. This presents an idea
that feedback should be given in attempt to understand who we are as individuals, and what can be done with this
information to improve or develop who we are. Furthermore, the Australian Institute for Teaching and School
Leadership (AITSL) praises feedback as a root for understanding and reflecting. It is important as educator to
understand the appropriate and relevant feedback necessary and the benefits these can bring, especially in the
learning of mathematics which is highly encouraged in schools. Dinham (2008, p. 35) suggests “feedback is vital
within schooling as it has the ability to correct, recognise, encourage, challenge and improve student performance”.
On the other hand, we must also be aware of the challenges improper feedback can provide. Frankland (2007)
explains that feedback does not always necessarily improve student learning. When feedback is delivered in an
untimely or disengaging manner, students lose insight into the value of the given feedback. Additionally, Frankland
(2007) explains that when feedback is unclear or does not focus on the task, students create a negative image of
feedback. This can cause students to feel uncomfortable and discouraged, leading to students not using the feedback
for improvement. Instead, feedback needs to be relevant and prompt, where they are still familiar the task, to ensure
student engagement (Brookhart 2008). Therefore, from this we look at how feedback can be given in a way that
fosters student learning to promote success.

When used appropriately, feedback encourages successful learning. Feedback on mathematical learning allows
students to understand their performance level, which is a basis for student improvement (Berry 2005, pp. 1-2;
Brookhart 2008). When students understand where they are at in their learning and how they can progress, they
become motivated to take action. Berry (2005, pp. 1-2) explains that feedback can occur in many different
circumstances such as individual performance, partner/peer work, group work, marks on task or homework, written
feedback or comments. Furthermore, Berry (2005, p. 2) identifies three main levels of feedback: motivational,
evaluative and learning. Similar to positive reinforcement, the motivational level consists of grades, positive comments
and incentives. The aim of this feedback is to promote the repeat of positive student action. However, a downfall with
this level is that students do not receive constructive feedback specifically about their learning. Students are unware
of what they have done correctly or how they can improve, thus negatively affecting student learning (Berry 2005, p.
2). The evaluative level is generally characterised by a grade or a mark that distinguishes students from one another.
Berry (2005, pp. 3-4) describes this method as a ‘less time consuming’ process but does not benefit students due to
the lack of information on their learning. Lastly, the learning level presents feedback that provides insight into how
learning can be improved (Berry 2005, p.4). This type of feedback focusses on student achievement. Educators are
able to refer back to the learning goals and reflect on what they did well or how they can improve. By engaging
students in their own learning, they become motivated to make their own decisions. Teachers may approach this
method through conversations with students or written feedback on work. From these three methods of feedback, a
study showed that educators preferred the learning function as it allowed students to gain greater insight into what
they were doing well, what they were missing and how to meet the achievement standard (Berry 2005, p. 8). It is also
important to note that these different functions of feedback can also be together, for example using a grade system
but also provided relevant written feedback.

As an educator, it is necessary to reflect on ways to ensure feedback is used appropriately. These readings, give
insight into how feedback can benefit students and the different approaches that can be used to maximise student
mathematical learning.

Action

During placement, I am going to provide more consistent feedback to students on their maths work both in groups
and individually. When providing feedback, I will explain two things they did well and something they can improve on.
The feedback will be more in-depth and provide individuals with an understanding of what they did well and how they
can improve related to their goals. I will increase my constructive feedback to allow students to gauge their learning
and find ways to improve. This will be done by incorporating questioning in my feedback and conversations to get
students to think on a deeper level. The feedback will be based on 45-minute math lessons as they happen each day,
although I will use 3 days of the week. The feedback will be given to them the same day or the day after, to ensure
prompt actions are taken. Feedback will be given to all students.
Observation

To keep track of my planned action to, ensure I am providing appropriate, timely and constructive feedback to
students, I will be collecting data from students, my mentor teacher and myself. To collect this data, I have chosen 3
techniques that will give me insight into how I am progressing throughout my practice. I will be using a personal
reflective journal, a student questionnaire and a mentor observation sheet. Grundy (1995, p. 19) encouraged the use
of reflective journals as it provides both a valuable source of evidence and allows for personal reflection that can be
referred back to. The personal reflection will be completed at the end of each week. It will provide insight into the
context, what type of feedback was given, and how I felt about the feedback. The second technique, the questionnaire
to the students, will be completed once at the end of the week. Students will be asked to fill out a questionnaire that
will ask: how effective the feedback was, can the feedback be used to improve their learning of maths and has the
feedback already been used to improve learning. The last technique, the observation sheet, will be completed by my
supervising teacher at the end of the week. On the sheet, she will be asked what type of feedback was provided, was
the feedback effective, an example of the feedback given and any additional comments. I have chosen these three
techniques as I believe these give me the best insight into how I am progressing. These methods take into
consideration of how students are responding to my feedback and let me if I am appropriately using feedback to
enhance learning. The personal reflection will allow me to evaluate my practice and progressively work on
weaknesses that I identify throughout placement.

Reflection

From the data, I will be observing whether I have provided valuable, appropriate and timely feedback to students.
The data will suggest what type of feedback I have used if it was constructive and if it helped improve mathematical
learning. They will be doing this through a scaled type questionnaire, where they will rate how effective my feedback
is from 1-5. From each of the questions, I will formulate graphs to show how I went amongst the class. This is important
as these visual interpretations can help identify clear patterns. By the end of my placement, I will then compare the
graphs, which will show how I went at the beginning throughout to the end. By using three different methods of data
collection, I will be able to identify clear patterns throughout my practice and gain views of various members of the
classroom. As an educator, reflection becomes increasingly important. Killen (2016) explains “By looking at how you
teach, thinking about why you do it that way, and evaluating how well you are influencing student learning, you can
identify your strengths and target things to improve”. Alongside the data provided from my students, my supervising
mentor teacher will provide feedback and observation records on how effective my practice was. In addition to this, I
will be working with my University base group and critical friend, Sophie Tye to reflect on my practice and to discuss
how I am progressing. By reflecting and evaluating, I will gain a better understanding of my skills in providing
constructive feedback.

References
Include all references (min. of 6) using the Harvard referencing system.

Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership 2018, Australian professional standards for teachers,
Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership, viewed 25 July 2018,
https://www.aitsl.edu.au/teach/standards

Berry, R 2005, Functional Significance of Feedback in Learning, Hong Kong Institute of Education, Australian
Association for Research Education, Parramatta, Australia, viewed 25 July 2018,
http://www.aare.edu.au/data/publications/2005/ber05533.pdf
Brookhart, S 2008, How to give Effective Feedback to your Students, ASCD Books and Publications, viewed 25
July 2018.

Dinham, S 2008, ‘Powerful teacher feedback’, Synergy, vol.6, no. 2, pp. 35-38.

Frankland, S 2007, Enhancing Teaching and Learning through Assessment, The Hong Kong Polytechnic
University, China SAR, Spriner, viewed 25 July 2018, https://books.google.com.au/books?id=XlmQO-
du5OgC&pg=PA53&dq=importance+of+teacher+feedback+in+education&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjyhajzoJ_OA
hWBkpQKHURrD3QQ6AEINDAB#v=onepage&q=importance%20of%20teacher%20feedback%20in%20education
&f=false

Groundwater-Smith, S, Ewing, R & Cornu R 2014, Teaching Challenges & Dilemmas, 5th Edn, Cengage Learning,
Victoria, Australia.

Grundy, S 1995, Action Research as Professional Development, Innovative Links Project, Murdoch, Western
Australia.
Killen, R 2016, 'Becoming a reflective teacher', in Effective teaching strategies: lessons from research and practice,
Cengage Learning, South Melbourne, Victoria, pp. 103-120.
Day: Date:

Data Collection No.

Brief context:

When was the feedback given?

Feedback example:

How did I feel about the feedback? (strengths & weaknesses)

 1 2 3 4
Strongly Disagree Agree Strongly
disagree agree

The feedback told me what I did well

The feedback told me what I could work

on

I have already used the feedback to

improve my learning

The feedback was given to me the

same day or the day after

The feedback was about the task I

was doing

Comments:

1 2 3 4
Strongly Disagree Agree Strongly
disagree agree

The feedback told me what I did well

The feedback told me what I could work

on

I have already used the feedback to

improve my learning

The feedback was given to me the

same day or the day after

The feedback was about the task I

was doing

Comments:
 Mentor Teacher Observation Sheet

Mentor teacher: ________________________________________________________

Pre-service Teacher: _____________________________________________________

Lesson Context: _________________________________________________________

Example of feedback:
_______________________________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________________________

Was the feedback effective:

_______________________________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________________________

Area of strength:

_______________________________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________________________

Area of weakness:

_______________________________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________________________

Additional comment:

_______________________________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________________________