SASHA Learning Brief

Low-stakes feedback: make room for revision

Clear learning goals, a small check for understanding, specific feedback and a chance to revise: a practical look at formative assessment and review.

SASHA Learning Brief · Editorial edition 2026-10-18 · Sources and limitations below

Begin with the learning goal

A useful question after a practice task is: what should the learner do next? A score can describe a result, but planning the next attempt requires attention to what the work shows. This edition looks at a small educational routine: establish the goal, check understanding, offer specific guidance and leave time to use it.

The Australian Education Research Organisation's Formative assessment guide, dated February 2021, describes gathering and interpreting evidence during learning so teaching can be adjusted. It recommends clear objectives and success criteria. Before asking a learner to revise, make sure the intended knowledge or skill is understood.

Keep practice low stakes

AERO's November 2024 Revisit and review guide describes low-stakes quizzes as opportunities to practise, make mistakes and receive feedback with minimal consequence or risk. The purpose of the activity matters: explain whether it is a practice check, what will happen with the answer and how the learner can try again.

The February 2021 guide suggests simple checks such as quick quizzes or exit tickets, alongside questions that invite learners to explain their reasoning. These checks help an educator decide what to teach or revisit. Adapt the format and make reasonable adjustments so students with disability can participate.

Give a next step, then time to use it

The Education Endowment Foundation's Teacher Feedback to Improve Pupil Learning guidance, published on 11 June 2021, emphasises strong initial teaching, feedback aimed at specific learning gaps and opportunities for pupils to act on it. Its recommendations favour attention to the task, subject or learning strategy over comments about the learner's personal characteristics.

Timing needs judgment. The EEF does not prescribe immediate feedback for every task; the task, pupil and class understanding all matter. Plan what happens after the comment. A learner might correct a calculation, explain a choice or revise a sentence, while the educator checks whether further teaching is needed.

A small revision example

Consider this original, fictional example. A writing task asks for a claim supported by evidence. The learner gives a claim and an example, but the connection is unclear. A possible response is: 'You have included an example. Add one sentence explaining how it supports your claim.' Leave space for that sentence and discuss the revision against the original goal.

This is an illustration, not a report of a learner's experience or a tested intervention. If the learner cannot explain the connection, the next step could be to model an explanation together before asking for another attempt.

Plan the next attempt together

Here is an original planning prompt to try with a fictional assignment before adapting it to your setting. Draw three boxes labelled 'Goal', 'Next change' and 'Check again'. In the first, write the specific thing the task asks the learner to demonstrate. In the second, agree one manageable revision. In the third, record how the learner and educator will look at the revised work. Leave room for the learner to ask a question or explain why the instruction is unclear.

Keep this plan proportionate to the task. It need not become another score, public comparison or lengthy record. At the end, ask: 'What changed in the work, and what still needs explaining?' If the original goal or instruction was mistaken, correct that too. The point of this proposed exercise is to make the next decision visible and discussable.

Return to the learning, and check the tool

AERO's Revisit and review guide recommends short reviews across time and checking understanding to decide when more instruction is needed. It gives no universal interval for review: timing depends on the content and learners. Revisiting should involve active recall or application, with reteaching where necessary.

For any learning tool, including SASHA, ask to see a fictional task move from instruction to feedback to revision. Can the learner find the goal, understand the next action and review the changed work? These are evaluation questions; the cited school guidance does not establish the effectiveness or availability of a SASHA feature. Begin with one clear opportunity to use feedback.

Sources and further reading

These sources inform the discussion; they do not certify SASHA or establish its effectiveness. Follow each link to inspect the original context.