Assignment 1 for PIDP 3351 - Feedback vs. Feedforward
Ever gotten feedback that kinda felt like a sh*t sandwich where the giver gave a compliment then a criticism then another compliment? When given this feedback were you excited to try again or did it take the wind out of your sail?
Wouldn't it be more encouraging if someone asked you "what do you think worked well with this" and "is there anything you could do to make it even better"? (CSLE2COVA, 2020). This is a feedforward technique and for most people it is seen as a way to improve, rather then redo.
During an electrical apprenticeship, feedback is expected. If you as the apprentice can receive this feedback and turn it into feedforward where you consider what went well and what areas need improvement, you will find more joy in your work while becoming an even better trades person.
To become a person who looks for feedforward rather than feedback, we must understand various mindsets. There are two mindsets that we need to really understand. The first is the fixed mindset and the second is the growth mindset.
(Cote, 2022)
The fixed mindset
This mindset is when intelligence and ability are seen as unchangeable or fixed (Smith, 2025). This mindset leads learners to believe that they either have it or they don't, they avoid challenge to prevent the possibility of failure (Smith, 2025). If an apprenticeship in any field is about the process then how can this be a beneficial mindset?
The growth mindset
This mindset is all about process! Now this is what we need throughout our apprenticeship. The growth mindset focuses on the power of yet (Dweck,2014). The power of yet is exactly what it implies, it's the thought process of "I'm not there yet" which implies that if you go through the process you will eventually get there. As tradespeople, the power of yet is essential to our growth and improvement in our trade.
For the Carol Dweck's full Ted talk please visit the link provided below.
(Dweck, 2014)
As apprentices or journey people, our mindsets are extremely important. A fixed mindset will drain your excitement and energy for the trade. Where a growth mindset that focuses on process can invigorate and energize us day after day to be better! With these mindsets it is important to understand feedback and feedforward.
Feedback vs Feedforward
Feedback can be great, when our life partners come to us and say "hey, I really didn't appreciate that thing you did last night" we usually take that constructively and try to improve. Not only because we love them, but because we want to make them happy, and we want to be better versions of ourselves for them. On the other hand, when our boss comes to us and says "the panel you wired yesterday looks like a dog's breakfast and I need you to do cleaner work next time" we take this more as an attack and feel threatened or looked down on which in turn deflated our energy for the next task.
Feedforward is a much different approach that relies more on praising the process and improvement. Which creates hardiness and resilience (Dweck, 2014). If your boss were to come to you and say "hey, I was looking at that panel you wired yesterday and liked that all the wires that entered were in neat lines and stapled neatly, but I thought that the wiring inside was a little messy and could use a bit more care and time" you would leave that conversation with the feeling of "next time I'll watch for that, I'm not there yet... but I know I can do better". This is something to look forward to an strive to improve upon, which in turn will make you a much better trades person in the long run.
Now, we need to understand that these mindsets and ways of providing constructive criticism are not known by all in trades... there are still many grumpy old fellows in the trades, but our mindsets as learners can be extremely helpful in managing these ornery older people.
A few things to ponder
The moment we believe that success is determined by an ingrained level of ability, we will be brittle in the face of adversity (Waitzkin, 2001).
"The best way to gain self-confidence is to do what you are afraid to do" (Lemonade day, 2024).
"You are always a student, never a master. You have to keep moving forward" (Lemonade day, 2024).
"Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts" (Lemonade day, 2024).
"The expert in anything was once a beginner" (Lemonade day, 2024).
Resources:
CLSE2COVA. (2020). LM stories EP 4 feedforward vs. feedback. YouTube.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zklTGjq6dIs&t=1s
Cote, C. (2022). Growth mindset vs. fixed mindset: What's the difference? Harvard Business School. https://online.hbs.edu/blog/post/growth-mindset-vs-fixed-mindset
Dweck, C. (2014). The power of believing you can improve | Carol Dweck | TED. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_X0mgOOSpLU&t=2s
Lemonade day. (2024). 101+ inspiring growth mindset quotes for kids to fuel their success - https://lemonadeday.org/blog/growth-mindset-quotes-for-kids
Smith, J. (2025). Growth mindset vs fixed mindset: How what we think affects what you achieve. Mindset Health. https://www.mindsethealth.com/matter/growth-vs-fixed-mindset
Waitzkin, J. (2001). Joshua Waitzkin quotes. Brainy quote. https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/joshua_waitzkin_536461
Over the next few years, apart from the obvious fact of finishing my PIDP there are a few things that I have my eyes on.
One will be applying for and hopefully achieving a tenure position at my university within the next 5 years. This will give me a stability in my career that I have never had before and I look forward to what other possibilities it will bring my way in the future.
Another thing that I am setting my sights on after the completion of my PIDP is a renewable energy course. A course that specifically looks into water turbine created power, wind created power, or even solar is very interesting to me. It is my hope that the knowledge I could gain from these types of courses could be passed onto my students and make them even better electricians in the future.
Lastly, I look forward to using my professional development funds to attend some electrical conferences and seminars held all over North America. More specifically the Canada Electrical and Power Conference held in Ontario. This conference brings together some of the best tradespeople in the electrical field and would give me an excellent opportunity to network and grow my access to these professional people.
In the "The Skillful Teacher," chapter 3 talks about various ways to "understand our classrooms" and more specifically it talks about "The Muddiest Point" (Brookfield, 2015). Wow, what a great evaluation strategy that I am excited to introduce into my next class.
This idea of asking students each day to summarize something that happened in class that they found was unclear or something they thought was poorly explained or covered in todays lesson strikes me as such a fantastic way to try and identify, address and fill and gaps in their knowledge.
I think that if I introduce the muddiest point strategy as a daily feedback tool to better assess students' understanding on daily basis., while also introducing my weekly feedback tool that I created during PIDP 3260. It is my hope that these strategies will help to crate a learning environment that students feel comfortable, safe and willing to step outside their comfort zone to widen their understanding of various topics.
Brookfield,
S, D. (2015). The skillful teacher: On technique, trust, and responsiveness
in the classroom (3rd ed.). Jossey-Bass.
The small ones are many but achievable with time. They range from getting my electrical shop set up in a better configuration for my teaching style in the shop to becoming a more active member of the faculty and campus community.
The big ones are... well by definition. BIG.
Firstly, finish PIDP. I have been teaching for a while now and it would be really nice to compete this course and get one of these big goals checked off.
Next, teach electrical levels 3 and 4. I teach on a regional campus, currently we offer foundations and level 2 electrical. It is one of my goals to teach levels 3 and 4 on the main campus, this would also allow me to collaborate with and meet new instructors in the school of trades.
Lastly, Tenure. Ever since getting this position, everything I have done is in preparation for my tenure application. It is a wonderful benefit that I love this job as much as I do. Although always preparing for it, I know I am a few more years away from the application itself.
Oh wow.... I feel like chapter 16 personally attacked me. More specifically in the "Level of Required Learning Is Inappropriate" section of the chapter (Brookfield, 2015). At the end of this section on resistance to learning the author mentions "enthusiastic teachers who say to much to fast often leave learners behind" (Brookfield, 2015). In my first year this was me (oh wow, was it ever), I'd have studied all night and prepared my lesson plans, gone into the classroom the next day, and in my excitement for my learning and understanding I'd fly through the material I was instructing that day and be met with glazed eyes and open mouths. It didn't take long for a student of mine to bravely put their hand up and ask me to start over.
I'd love to say the I've overcome this and set a much steadier pace to my lessons.... alas I have not. What I have done is embrace this fact about my teaching style and explain it to all my students at the beginning of the course and many times throughout. I believe that my excitement and energy that I bring to my classroom, as long as it is kept in check (by myself and my learners) it can truly benefit the learning environment.
I look forward to implementing the new feedback assessment tool that I created in this PIDP course, I look forward to the new ideas, benefits, and enhanced engagement it will hopefully bring to my classroom in the future.
References:
Brookfield,
S, D. (2015). The skillful teacher: On technique, trust, and responsiveness
in the classroom (3rd ed.). Jossey-Bass.
There are many different diversities that I could discuss when reflecting on my past classes... culture, age, and learning styles to name a few. That being said, one that I focus on early is the learner's prior knowledge as well as the different learning styles in the classroom.
On day one I start off the class with 3 basic questions.
What drew you to this program?
What do you think you know 100% about electrical before we start?
What are you most excited to learn about electrical during this course.
These questions are my quick and relatively stress free way of allowing everyone a chance for their voices to be heard, while giving me a glimpse into what their prior knowledge about electrical is while also giving me ideas as to the thigs they are nervous to learn and what they are excited to learn.
While this day one exercise is helpful in determining the learners prior knowledge it is also a great way to assess diverse learning styles, allowing me to see which students are more extroverted and excited for their turn to speak. While others are more introverted and quiet or nervous to speak. This gives me insights into which students will benefit from being asked questions and put on the spot and which learns will not benefit from this styler on interaction in the classroom.
While reading "The skillful teacher" one of the four assumptions about a skillful teacher is the ability to treat all adult learners, regardless of age, as adults (Brookfield, 2015).
This seems so obvious at a glance and to some instructors it may never be an issue or a concern. For me... in my foundations electrical class I often have dual credit students who are 17 years old mixed in with 20, 30, and even 40 year old students.
I firmly believe that it is one of my duties as a trades instructor to treat everyone as an adult and how to communicate as an adult. One of my truths as an instructor is that I am very student driven. I want all my students (who want it for themselves) to be successful. It isn't just that I want them to succeed on their exams... I want them to succeed in getting a job, succeed in their apprenticeship and eventually succeed in their Red Seal. All of these successes are dependent on the students overall ability to be an ADULT. All learners regardless of age have something to contribute, in electrical even more so. Almost everyone has some basic understanding of electrical, even if it's just that a switch turns on a light. In this case it is my obligation to give everyone a chance to speak their mind, and be heard when they speak... at the end of the day isn't this what being an adult is?
Another reason I believe in treating adult learners as adults is because society will treat them as adults. Students successful in my class will hopefully join the workforce, eventually having their very first day on the job.
Oh... my.... what can I even say. It is the worst feeling in the world, everyone has experienced day one of a new job but not everyone has experienced day one in the trades.
Would I have done that student a service treating them like a teenager in my class to them go out and join a very (alpha) male dominated workforce?
Would I have done that student a service by not sharing with them my experiences and stories from past day one experiences because I viewed them differently then the adult they are?
I continue to go back to this chapter and re-read and reflect on the other core assumptions of skillful teaching, something I expect the author knew we as instructors would do.
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