The better a student knows what is expected in the lesson, for an assignment, or on a test, the better they can assess their own knowledge and skills. They can also better determine what is (still) needed to achieve the goals and complete the assignment with a passing grade (Carless & Boud, 2018; Sadler, 1989; Tai et al., 2018). Also, to effectively provide feedback to peers, it is essential that students know the criteria a product must meet. Therefore, it is important to clarify the expectations you have as a teacher for your students in advance: what are the learning goals or learning outcomes that are central to this module, subject, or activity? And what are the success criteria to achieve these? This may sound obvious, but it certainly is not. According to Gulikers and Baartman (2017), many studies show that teachers often do too little to make the goals and success criteria explicit and clear for their students. Simply naming the goals or telling students: “formulate your own learning goals” or “there are examples and a rubric in the online environment” does not work. The teacher must consciously and systematically approach this by making it explicit and clear; students need to be taught and guided in mastering and/or formulating their own learning goals. A prerequisite for clarifying expectations with students is that clear, goal-oriented learning goals and success criteria are formulated in advance. Formulating learning goals is an art in itself. It is then important that these goals and criteria are communicated to students at multiple times and in various ways. Ideally, students are actively involved in the construction of goals and criteria and in explicitly articulating them together.
Carless, D., & Boud, D. (2018). The development of student feedback literacy: enabling uptake of feedback. Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education, 43(8), 1315-1325.
Gullikers, J., & Baartman, L. (2017). Doelgericht professionaliseren: formatieve toetspraktijken met effect! Wat DOET de docent in de klas? Wageningen: WU.
Hawe, E. M., & Dixon, H. R. (2014). Building students’ evaluative and productive expertise in the writing classroom. Assessing Writing, 19, 66-79.
Sadler, D. R. (2010). Beyond Feedback: Developing Student Capability in Complex Appraisal. Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education, 35(5), 535-550.
Tai, J., Ajjawi, R., Boud, D., Dawson, P., & Panadero, E. (2018). Developing Evaluative Judgement: Enabling Students to Make Decisions about the Quality of Work. Higher Education 76(3), 467–481.