Orientation for Success in Higher Education: Reflective Learning, Feedback and Feed-Forward Approach

This essay covers the importance of reflective learning, use of reflective approach, feedback & feed forward approach which supports students to make strategies for improvement in upcoming formative and summative assessment. It also explains the Gibbs reflective cycle model, nature of feedback and feed-forward, and how they can inform and improve future formative and summative assessments.

Orientation for Success in
Higher Education

Table of Contents
Orientation for Success in Higher Education...................................................................................1
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................3
Reflection and reflective approach to learning, within using a relevant model of reflection......3
The nature of feedback and feed-forward....................................................................................4
Reflective approach to feedback and feed forward can inform and improve future formative
and summative assessments.........................................................................................................5
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................6
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................7

INTRODUCTION
Reflective learning helps the student to look back its learned skills, educational concepts
and other information, through which it develops critical analytic instinct to create better future
plan. It is personal analysis to make better and improve student to themselves.
Feedback and feed forward supports the one to analyse themselves which is part of
reflective learning. Feedback is instruction and orders that are given by tutor, coach and mentor
after completing session, task and allocated action. It guides student to show their mistakes,
wrong steps and loopholes, through which their self-analysis gets easier. Feed forward is also
guidance and directional message given by tutor for future based problems and solutions. It is
just reciprocal process of the feedback. It focuses on future instead of past.
This essay will cover importance of reflective learning, use of reflective approach. It will
also include feedback & feed forward approach which supports students to make strategies for
improvement in upcoming formative and summative assessment.
MAIN BODY
Reflection and reflective approach to learning, within using a relevant model of reflection
Reflection is used to self-analysis through experience, that has been performed by them
previously. It is used to determine strength and weakness and improve them to make better
performance in the future (Colomer and et.al, 2020).
Gibb's reflective cycle model is used to explain reflective learning approach it consists six stages
that are- description, feelings, evaluation, analysis, conclusion and action plan (Adeani, Febriani
and Syafryadin, 2020). This model makes easier to evaluation experience and create
development plans according to them. Description covers whole year analysis, in this whole I
just get to know that my leadership skills get upgraded through better guidance of my tutor.
Leadership skill which is helpful for upcoming competitive situation in life. It takes some time to
built it but finally it brings new opportunities for me in the future. Before taking participation in
all those activities I am little nervous and feeling shy to come forward and uses power in
responsible manner. At the time when my tutor believes in me and allocate me those power, after
experiencing those power I am going to acknowledge my own skill and ability. It is feel very
happy when other teammates and friends of the activity were promoted my work and accepts me

as their leader (Díaz-Iso, Eizaguirre and García-Olalla, 2019). It feels very motivated and
enthusiastic experience to get praise by them. As at time of evaluation it comes in knowledge
that there are some good and bad experience, as good experience are team member accept order
and manage them timely which supports to give perfect outcomes and according to potential
everyone performs well. Bad experience is that experienced and potential performers are
overcommit & under deliver, they are not following plans and procedure which disturbs overall
results at a point, then it fixed by members with better strategies. I think that the factor works
behind our perfect result is well future oriented plans and follow steps according to plans, which
is plus point for the team and as for me better execution of plans on a proper situation. From this
situation it is concludes that, leadership skills enhanced through better teamwork of team
members and after accepting me as their leader which motivates me. This thing boosts my self-
esteem as a leader and applications of my plans motivates me as well. Action plan for the future
is that, I should focus on experience one and first communicate them to make them satisfied.
Leader is not work as dictator it uses it members as its strength which gives better results
(Narisetty, Shen, and He, 2018).
The nature of feedback and feed-forward
Feedback is instruction given by tutor on the basis of past events and activities to
improve upcoming performance and generates productive results. It should be constructive,
specific, honest and supportive. It focuses on to the present performance of students. Feedbacks
make acknowledge to student their mistakes, loopholes and scope of improvement. It is very
essential to focused on mistakes and work on to betterment for them to achieve better results.
Feedback not be always negative, it is positive one as well, positive feedbacks motivates students
and make them believe on to their performance and work on strength as well. Positive feedbacks
helps students to focus on their strength instead of their weak points (Abatayo, 2020).
Feed-forward is just reverse process of feedback, instruction given by tutor before any
event and activity through which student analyse themselves and make strategies to deal with
future upcoming situations. As in nature it is also usually same as feedback, it should be
constructive and specific which make to understand and admire students to their strength and
weaknesses. Many times it just based on to strengthen weaknesses, to empower them and make
them right and use them as their strength too (Berenato, 2020).

In reflective learning approach, in the model feedback and feed-forward used to make me
believe in my abilities and loopholes that should work in the future, with better results. At time
of writing analysis and conclusion feedback that is received by tutor is help full, tutor just
addressed me about, behaviour and bond that I share with my experienced team members, they
make me realize about loopholes in strategical planning and execution of plans. Feedback that is
useful to understand my weakness, it was make more efficient result if it is well communicated
plan with senior members. Positive feedback were also received by my tutor, in that tutor
mentioned my strengths and perfect steps that make use perfect presentor. Through feedback, it
makes me easy to believe that friendly behaviour gives benefit for whole team, juniors
acceptance me as leader strengthen my leadership skills and make strategic objective reachable.
Feed forward that is received by tutor will help me to make future situations easy to
handle and get results in effective manner. It is also helpful for me to create action plan in Gibbs
model of reflective learning. Action plan is prepared with support of guidance, tutor guides me to
make better strategies with concern of seniors and experienced team members. It makes me
understand to work on my behaviour amongst seniors, execution of plans, both factors are
essential for achieving set goals.
Reflective approach to feedback and feed forward can inform and improve future formative and
summative assessments.
Through feedback and feed-forward it enhances formative and summative assessments. It guides
me to learn better skills and improve more results. Feedback is mentioned weaknesses and to
work on to them and make them as tool to achieve improve result.
Feedback is has guidance about my writing skills, which is essential to achieve good
position in score table. Tutor guides me that make proper plan to write in proper and
understanding language, because each assessment is writing format and even practical part too
contains some writing part. It gives me direction to make use of proper language, I should work
on my communication skills, it will enhance language knowledge and increase thinking skill in
particular language which strengthen writing in particular linguistic format. Writing skill is also
linked with time-management and speed, tutor make me realize that maintain speed is essential
to complete writing part in both assessment, so it just works for me. Writing speed get increases
with proper plans and communication skills also back supports language knowledge, both of

these enhances writing skill, which will beneficial to achieve better results in upcoming
assessments (Dahl, Peltier and Schibrowsky, 2018).
Feed-forward also mentioned guidance to related to writing skill, but tutor makes
feedback on my past performance and results, they just analyse that weakness in writing skill, so
they just addresses me that thing, In feed-forward, tutor acknowledge positive aspects of my
writing part is that I had good learning and catching power is impressive, they just make me
realize my strength as well and guide me to make better strategy to learn short and fewer words
concept and write them in own language to practice, which is supportive in my formative and
summative assessments. Tutor just instructs me that, language knowledge makes easy to write in
own words, which increases writing speed. In feed-forward, that thing is very cleared that it is
necessary to make future plans, so tutors instructs according future guidance which is to focus
on learning skills.
CONCLUSION
From above essay it has been concluded that, reflective learning is form of self-analysis,
on the basis of experience and lived scenarios. It supports to realize weaknesses and strengths of
learned skills.
In the above essay it has also been includes that, the reflective model of Gibbs. Gibbs
reflective cycle is used to explained approach of reflective writing, it contains six stages that are
briefly mentioned above.
Along with that feedback and feed-forward meaning, nature and approach to use in reflective
model is also covered. Feedback is based on to experience & feed-forward is also guidance given
by tutor to make better strategies for achieving set results in the future.

REFERENCES
Books and journals
Abatayo, J.A., 2020. Enhancing assessment literacy through feedback and feedforward: A
reflective practice in an EFL classroom. In Perspectives on Language Assessment
Literacy(pp. 69-83). Routledge.
Adeani, I.S., Febriani, R.B. and Syafryadin, S., 2020. USING GIBBS’REFLECTIVE CYCLE IN
MAKING REFLECTIONS OF LITERARY ANALYSIS. Indonesian EFL Journal,
6(2), pp.139-148.
Berenato, C.L., 2020. Feedback to “Feedforward”: Promoting Student Reflection and Learning
Through Teacher Evaluation. In Technology-Enhanced Formative Assessment Practices
in Higher Education (pp. 88-99). IGI Global.
Colomer, J, and et.al, 2020. Reflective learning in higher education: Active methodologies for
transformative practices. Sustainability, 12(9), p.3827.
Dahl, A.J., Peltier, J.W. and Schibrowsky, J.A., 2018. Critical thinking and reflective learning in
the marketing education literature: A historical perspective and future research needs.
Journal of Marketing Education, 40(2), pp.101-116.
Díaz-Iso, A., Eizaguirre, A. and García-Olalla, A., 2019. Extracurricular activities in higher
education and the promotion of reflective learning for sustainability. Sustainability,
11(17), p.4521.
Yuan, R. and Mak, P., 2018. Reflective learning and identity construction in practice, discourse
and activity: Experiences of pre-service language teachers in Hong Kong. Teaching and
Teacher Education, 74, pp.205-214.