Feedback can hinder kids' math outcomes.

• Position: Education - Brief article

A child thinks a math problem has been solved, but it turns out the answer is wrong. A teacher or parent tells the student, "Good try, but your answer is incorrect." This kind of instructional input is helpful to the child's learning, right?--not necessarily. Giving a child verbal feedback--whether it be positive or negative--during math problem-solving may do more harm than good, according to a study from Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tenn.

"Most people assume that giving children feedback after they complete a math problem is helpful because it allows them to see their errors and adjust their approach, but we found that feedback only had positive effects for children who didn't know much about the problems. For children who already were taught how to solve the problems, giving them feedback during problem-solving actually led to lower performance on subsequent math problems than giving them no feedback at all," says Emily Fyfe, a doctoral student at the College of Education and Fluman...