Answering this question involves a

Answering this question involves a teacher (or peer, task, or self) providing information relative to a task or performance goal, often in relation to some expected standard, to prior performance, and/or to success or failure on a spe- cific part of the task. This aspect of feedback could be termed the feed-back dimension. Feedback is effective when it consists of information about progress, and/or about how to proceed. Students often seek information about "how they are going," although they may not always welcome the answers. Too often, atten- tion to this question leads to assessment or testing, whereas this is not the fun- damental conception underlying this question. "Tests" are but one method used by teachers and students to address this question and, as discussed below, often fail to convey feedback information that helps teachers and their students to know how they are going.