From the first day I arrived on campus as an adult student I have felt a bit like an imposter, never quite shaking that feeling that there had been an error and I should not be studying at university. I still feel this way. I love nothing more than immersing myself in the learning and have pondered what I will do when I have finished my Doctor of Education studies. At the moment learning Te Reo and teaching myself embroidery are top of my list.
The topic of my research is feedback and which style has the most impact on improving student achievement. I have a particular focus on Year 9 and 10 students so they are well versed in how to receive and use feedback effectively. I firmly believe this will enhance their chances of success as they move through the school system.
As a college English teacher providing feedback is absolutely vital, particularly for senior students. Developing a deeper understanding of how to provide the best possible feedback and give my students a greater opportunity to achieve their NCEA certificates, has been the driving force behind my Doctoral research. I also think feedback is one of those undervalued tools that has the potential to be a game changer.
At the end of last year I was completing focus group sessions with my Year 10 research group and one of the students said (as an aside), “Miss, the best feedback I got from you was on Google.docs.” Google.docs were not a part of my research and in fact I had only just discovered them in term three so decided to use them as a vehicle to deliver feedback once my research tasks had been completed. The student who passed this comment told me he loved the immediacy of feedback. This single comment has benefitted me in two ways. The comment has inspired the “where to next” for my thesis and I have been using Google.docs to provide feedback for my Year 13 students while I am covering a term’s relief. They love it!
My words of wisdom come from my TeachNZ scholarship. Many older family members live locally and assumed, because I was home working on my thesis for most of this year, they could come and go, and make the usual family demands. I contacted each of them and explained that I was available from 3pm daily and weekends, unless I said otherwise. While this was difficult, my scholarship is a real gift and I intend making the most of it. I urge all students who are studying, but especially those completing distance programmes, make your situation clear and explain how important your work is and that you will do what you can, when you can.
The dreaded imposter syndrome! It gets us all to some extent at some point. Great idea to ringfence your work time with family. :)
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