Feedback Loops in Learning

Introduction

This blog primarily focuses on my opinions on the feedback loops in different subjects and how they are the most significant reason for enhanced engagement and progress aside from passion.

What I Mean by Feedback Loops

There are many explanations for the term "feedback loop", but the one to be discussed today is mostly tied to the system of learning whereby a student performs a certain action to feed some information into the "black box"(i.e. the system), and output along with feedback is returned to them.

How It Is with Programming

From the observations of my career as a software engineer, I discovered that learning to program is uniquely fast compared to investigating other subjects.

But Why?

My only feasible explanation for this is that the journey is mainly composed of efficient feedback loops.. You might not be a programmer, but think about the following scenario: you write a line of code with 10 different errors, but the moment you hit run, the compiler immediately feeds you with relevant information about the errors, allowing you to right go back to them without waiting for, say, your teacher to mark it; and this leads to a well-paced cycle in which you can productively learn from your mistakes.

Apart from seeing the errors, it also gives you an instant picture of the result of your code, which is particularly important because this potentially enhances the "self-esteem" tier in Maslow's hierarchy in the process of learning with relatively short pauses.

How That Compares to Other Subjects

This depends on individuals to some extent. But based on my experience, I find the feedback loops in languages and some sciences to be sometimes a bit demotivating due to the waiting.

Checking your notes and answering your questions require a lot of time from your teachers, and not only is this time-consuming for both parties, but it also doesn't provide instant feedback!

...So sometimes I will:

But it doesn't matter, because in the end:

Potential Improvements

Time is gold, for each second we waste in this loop, we lose an iPhone.

Here are two technological opportunities (unimplemented) to provide instant feedback:

• Automated marking algorithms
• A student search engine specifically concentrated on IGCSE/IB to actualize rapid research

Note: if any authoritative party read this section and has thoughts on this, don't hesitate to contact me via email. I will be more than happy to provide technical support.

Conclusion

Feedback loops in education are critical, and we should use them to our advantage to effectively provide top-tier and efficient training to our students, which would therefore enhance the school's performance and customer satisfaction, thus brand recognition.

Studying anything requires a learning curve, and certainly, there will be enough obstacles making us fall. But we should reunite and target these stumbling blocks so students can maximize their productivity.