GUEST POST: Memorable Feedback: Lessons from Cognitive Psychology in Selective Attention
By Dr Bethany Brunsman and Dr Rob McEntarffer
Bethany Brunsman, PhD, has been an Assessment/Evaluation Specialist with Lincoln Public schools since 2000 and works with assessment and data reporting/use. She has a Ph.D. in psychology and Master of Arts degrees in psychology and educational measurement and statistics from the University of Iowa.
Rob McEntarffer, PhD, taught English, psychology, and philosophy for 13 years at Lincoln Southeast high school in Lincoln, NE. While teaching, he became interested in educational measurement issues and got a Masters degree in educational measurement from the University of Nebraska, Lincoln in 2003. He started working as an Assessment/Evaluation specialist with Lincoln Public Schools in 2005, and works with the district on large scale and classroom assessment issues. Rob earned his PhD in Teaching, Learning, and Teacher education in 2013, focusing his research on how teachers make room for formative assessment processes in their classrooms. He lives with his wife, two kids, dog, and cat in Lincoln, NE and works for Lincoln Public Schools.
“...effective feedback enhances students’ cognitive processing, increases students’ autonomy, fosters resiliency and persistence…” (1, p. 53)
“Memory: it’s the residue of thought…” (2, p. 18)
As assessment specialists in a large public school district, our jobs involve working with teachers to develop useful classroom assessments and use assessment data to help students learn. Along the way, we’ve found two bodies of literature to be useful during conversations with teachers: cognitive psychology literature related to memory models, and assessment literature related to effective feedback. Through our work and conversations, we see multiple connections between these two bodies of literature: selective attention (the focus of this first post), encoding/deep processing, and retrieval practice. The purpose of this series of blog posts is to highlight three potentially useful connections between these research areas. These observations may help other teachers and administrators find new ways to use feedback within complex processes of teaching and learning.
The Memory Model
Several different models of human memory are used in the literature about memory and teaching/learning (3) (4) (5) For the purposes of this article, we will refer to what might be called a “standard” or traditional model of memory. Some elements of this model are borrowed from cognitive load and depth of processing theory, but this simplified “three-box” memory model has been useful during teaching and learning discussions in our district, so we use it as an overall organizing model as we discuss connections between memory theory and feedback advice from assessment literature.
Thanks to Dr. Sarah Salem for her help creating the Simplified Standard Model of Memory graphic.
Selective Attention
Students need to focus on specific stimuli from the environment in order to get that information/ideas/etc. “in” to working memory. This attention process relates to feedback: if teachers can’t get students to pay attention to feedback (and possibly act on it), then we have no hope of feedback improving learning (6). This first essential step in the model is relevant to hundreds of decisions teachers make, including decisions about feedback. In order for teacher feedback to even have a chance to improve learning, students must first selectively attend to that feedback. This attention must be “cognitive” attention: students need to understand the meaning of the feedback, the feedback needs to inspire or motivate students to attend to specific aspects of learning, and students need to be able to understand the feedback in ways that enable use.
Suggestions for Providing Feedback To Focus Selective Attention
Help Students Understand Learning Objectives and Evaluation Expectations. To make good learning decisions, students need to understand what they are expected to learn and how their performance will be evaluated (7). To this end teachers can provide verbal and written explanations of learning objectives in student-friendly language. Sharing grading criteria (e.g., scoring guides, rubrics) and samples of responses can help students understand both what they need to learn and how to produce evidence they have learned it. Teachers can then link feedback back to the shared learning objectives and scoring criteria (8). By reducing uncertainty about where students are in relation to objectives/goals (9), teachers can help students focus their attention on the most productive ways to advance their learning. Understanding expectations helps students filter out competing information from their attention and focus on the critical aspects of what they need to learn.
Avoid Assigning a Grade Immediately. Research suggests that students will not pay attention to the specific feedback teachers provide if they get a grade (7) (8) (9) (10). Assigning a grade communicates to students that they are finished with the assignment, and thus grades may distract students from processing the important information in the feedback. Simply delaying the grade probably does not make sense either (8). If teachers give students feedback and provide opportunities for them to use it, grading the original, unimproved work will inaccurately communicate achievement to students and parents. Wiliam & Leahy (8) advise teachers to provide time in class for students to respond to feedback with specific guidance about what students will do with it and how they will know if they have done it well. If teachers are going to spend the time to produce the feedback, they need to ensure it will be used by students. Providing feedback without a grade and time for students to use the feedback helps students focus on what is important in their learning process (10).
Provide Respectful, Concise, Task-Focused Feedback. If students perceive feedback as helpful (rather than critical or overwhelming), students may be motivated to attend to the feedback and use it. Focus feedback on what students can do to improve their learning in the future, rather than on what they have not done well in the past. (8). Brookhart (11) suggests starting with positive comments about what the student has done well, and then including specific suggestions for improving the things that still need work. Teachers should focus feedback on major learning goals. If students need to improve in a number of areas, present feedback in manageable chunks (9) in student-friendly vocabulary and concepts that communicate respect for the student and their work (11). Teachers should try to present just the information the student needs at the moment based on their present learning, and do so as simply as possible. Matching the communication mode and tone of the feedback with what the teacher knows about the student (e.g., personality, language acquisition, communication preference) will also help with student motivation and agency (11).
Leverage Relationships Between the Teacher and Students. Attending to and using feedback requires student motivation. Students are more motivated to put in the work to use feedback for learning when they perceive that their teacher cares about them. Wiliam & Leahy (8) argue that the relationship between teachers and students and how the students view themselves as learners are more important than the type of feedback or how it is delivered (which is one reason research is sometimes inconsistent about the impact of feedback) (8). Teachers can guide students in their decisions about whether additional study is needed and the strategy they should use, and they can provide reinforcement to students who use feedback to change their study strategy (7). Brookhart (11) adds that commenting on the student’s self-regulation is best when it will reaffirm student self-efficacy.
Image from Pexels
Example: Helping Students Focus Selective Attention Through Effective Feedback.
Mr. Smith’s ninth grade English class is working on a research paper. Mr. Smith ensures students selectively attend to and understand learning goals and performance expectations by explicitly linking lessons and activities with learning goals and helping students create and use a rubric in student-friendly language. Students receive feedback on specific aspects of the research paper directly linked to the rubric from Mr. Smith and peers and have opportunities to revise their work based on the feedback. Mr. Smith provides training on the peer assessment process and feedback to keep the process positive and helpful for students. Linking feedback directly to the rubric helps students selectively attend to their current performance relative to the critical criteria and what changes they should make to improve.
References
1. Moss, C. M., & Brookhart, S. M. (2019). Advancing formative assessment in every classroom : a guide for instructional leaders. ASCD.
2. Willingham, D. T. (2008). Ask the Cognitive Scientist: What Will Improve a Student’s Memory? by Daniel T. Willingham; American Educator, Winter 2008-09, American Federation of Teachers. https://www.aft.org/sites/default/files/periodicals/willingham_0.pdf
3. Atkinson, R. C., & Shiffrin, R. M. (1968). Chapter: Human memory: A proposed system and its control processes. In Spence, K. W., & Spence, J. T. The psychology of learning and motivation (Volume 2). New York: Academic Press. pp. 89–195.
4. Craik, F. I. M., & Lockhart, R. S. (1972). Levels of processing: A framework for memory research. Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior, 11(6), 671–684. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0022-5371(72)80001-x
5. Sweller, J. (1988). Cognitive Load During Problem Solving: Effects on Learning. Cognitive Science. 12 (2): 257–285.
6. Stevens, C., & Bavelier, D. (2012). The role of selective attention on academic foundations: A cognitive neuroscience perspective. Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience, 2(Suppl 1), S30–S48. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dcn.2011.11.001
7. Popham, W. J. (2011). Transformative assessment in action : an inside look at applying the process. ASCD.
8. Wiliam, D., & Leahy, S. (2015). Embedding formative assessment: practical techniques for K-12 classrooms. Learning Sciences International.
9. Shute, V. J. (2008). Focus on Formative Feedback. Review of Educational Research, 78(1), 153–189. https://doi.org/10.3102/0034654307313795
10. Kuepper-Tetzel C.E., Gardner P.L. (2021). Effects of Temporary Mark Withholding on Academic Performance. Psychology Learning & Teaching, 20(3):405-419. doi:10.1177/1475725721999958
11. Brookhart, S. M. (2017). How to give effective feedback to your students. ASCD.
