I recently wondered about the sorts of thing PE teachers did when it came to marking and feedback as part of their day to day work.
So, harnessing the the #pegeek tag and Google Forms, I created a survey for PE teachers worldwide to respond to. I then turned the data I received from the respondents into a visual representation, using Spicynodes. Spicynodes is pretty cool – clicking on each node gives you a connected narrative type effect.
Unfortunately (in a glass half empty view), only 14 PE people worldwide responded to the survey 🙁
Happily, though, (in a glass half full view) I got some response to the questions 🙂
Interestingly, there seemed to be not a lot of data about about whether the task, homework or tests were from practical or theory classes (probably due to my poor survey construction), and that might be the subject of a further survey in the future. But it appears plenty of marking and feedback is happening, mainly in theory classes. As a response to this post it would be great to hear about how people mark and feedback in practical lessons, especially if students are using apps and devices as their work tools.
Click on the image below to check out the Spicynodes visualisation. I’d love to hear what you think.
Jonesy,
Creating the survey was a great idea and a great way to get feedback. I am a education major at the University of South Alabama and that is something that I would have never thought to do. I am a glass half full type of person so congrats on getting the feedback that you did! I feel that it is imperative to give some kind of feedback, no matter the amount. I commend you for taking the initiative to create this survey to try to get some feedback from some of your peers.
Mitchell
Hi Mitchell, and thanks for commenting! Feedback can be hard to take sometimes, but nevertheless it is an important part on striving for improvement. It can also help guide you on the next part of your journey. Never be afraid of feedback!
I thought the Spicynode visualization was really cool. I found that it is a great way to get feedback from other teachers. There were many examples of feedback, I particularly liked the one about explaining to students how to improve their answers.
Hi Katherine and thanks for your interest in my blog. I’ve always liked to represent data visually, and Spicynodes does that really nicely. And it’s always good to ask what other people are doing. The #pegeeks network on Twitter has been a great provider of many ideas for me.
Hi Jonesy,
I’m on exam supervision whilst over staffed so reading over your past blogs. Feedback in PDH – I mucked around with using a formula idea I stole from UK where they have some really stringent expectations on feedback. Following written student reflections after a lesson/activity, I give them a swimming pool grade (baby pool, swimming pool and diving pool). These reflected the depth of their reflections. It has been useful in encouraging (particularly some more of the boys to write their thoughts at length) to give me more and develop some interesting learning conversations. I’m going to check this survey now…thanks for sharing it. Ponso
Hey Andrew, Thanks for the comment. The pool labels sound great – how did your kids handle it? I’ve had my first run through a Stage 6 class and I’m planning my second run through now. I was afraid I think of teaching Stage 6 – now I think its a great opportunity. And I like your work for Cambridge too – well done 🙂 Jonesy