The Efficacy of Using a Feedback Typology as a Heuristic Device to Deconstruct Teachers’ Feedback Practice

Abstract

Increasingly complex and multifaceted explanations of learning and assessment, that involve a partnership between learners and teachers, have changed the purpose and focus of feedback. New conceptions of feedback centre on enabling learners to make connections and explore understandings with the emphasis on future and current performance. These conceptions move feedback from a simple, uncomplicated notion to one that is complex and problematic. This article reports on the findings of a pilot study that utilised a feedback typology (Tunstall & Gipps, 1996) to describe and analyse teachers' feedback practice in the area of written language. The typology is examined with regard to its potential as a heuristic tool to assist teachers initially in the deconstruction of their feedback practice.