What opportunities of feedback can be extracted
from the creative writing activity in Veronica's PowerPoint presentation?
After
watching the slide presentation, this was the question that resonated in my head
and so I've decided to try and answer it with my context and students in mind.
First of all, I believe that the different parts of the activity afford
different opportunities for feedback. For instance, in the first part: The
Elements, the tasks are open ended (Describe 2 different science fiction settings which could be used
in a story; Invent and describe three
different science fiction characters; Design/sketch/describe three
different modes of transport which could be used in a science fiction story;
Think of and write down one problem which could happen in a science
fiction story, and Think of and write also about one problem) and there are no rules, then the
focus of feedback is totally up to us, the activity or even better then
students. Why not ask them what they want feedback on? This would make them
even more receptive as they would be agents in the decision making process.
Secondly,
in part two: Structure, the tasks focus on the different parts of the story:
the start, the characters, potential problems and resolutions, and a
conclusion. Again, here it is possible to negotiate what the focus of feedback
will be and if manageable why not foci on different aspects. I can think of
several possibilities e.g. feedback not only coming from the tutor but also
from the students themselves (peer
feedback) with assigned foci for each group after the writing stage, or
carousel feedback where students put their work up on the walls around the
classroom and so they all read the different parts with the aim of finding at
least one thing to give feedback on either positively or on possible
improvement areas.
Thirdly, I
think that the editing stage could go smoothly hand in hand with the feedback
stage as we pay more attention to the texts produced when editing. Here I think
it would be important to dissect the difference between editing and giving
feedback and the directions these can come from. We can use an editing written
correction scheme or system which is popular in language teaching which the
teacher uses to show where the problems are but without say which it is so that
the student is then required to think more carefully about it and self correct.
This I see as a hybrid between editing and feedback. However, feedback does not
have to come only from the teacher so this would be a great opportunity to
introduce peer feedback. This would require clear guidelines and student
training as clarity and transparency is one of the keys highlighted by (Moon
2002) in terms of design of assessment
criteria.
Finally, I
will conclude with another question for you all...
What are the different
sources of writing (not written) feedback in your classroom?
References
Moon, J., 2002. Writing and using assessment criteria. The
Module and Programme Development Handbook: A Practical Guide to Linking Levels,
Outcomes and Assessment Criteria, pp.79–106.
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