PA1 Seeking and responding to feedback: SACE Activating Identities and Futures
“PA1 Seeking and responding to feedback: seek feedback about your learning processes from responsive co-agents such as teachers, peers, mentors and subject matter experts, and respond to it to progress your learning”
PA1 rewards seeking targeted feedback about your learning process from co-agents (teachers, peers, mentors, experts) and making discerning, justified responses. Record who gave feedback, what they said, what you did and what happened, so your Portfolio shows the full feedback loop.
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What this criterion asks
PA1, Seeking and responding to feedback, is about using other people to improve how you learn. The subject outline says students "seek feedback from responsive co-agents such as teachers, peers, and subject matter experts about their learning processes". PA1 is assessed mainly in the Portfolio (AT1).
The answer
Who are co-agents?
Co-agents are people who actively support your learning: your AIF teacher, peers, family, mentors, and subject matter experts connected to your Learning Goal.
Seek targeted feedback
Ask about a specific part of your learning:
- "Is this the right strategy for learning this skill in six weeks?"
- "Which of these two directions has more value for the community?"
- "Is my timeline realistic?"
Respond with discernment
- Seek targeted feedback from a suitable co-agent.
- Consider it: is it relevant, accurate, and consistent with other evidence?
- Decide what to act on, adapt or set aside, and why.
- Act and record what changed.
- Check the result, and seek feedback again if needed.
| Grade | PA1 standard |
|---|---|
| A | Seeks targeted feedback and makes discerning responses to progress the learning |
| B | Seeks relevant feedback and makes appropriate responses to progress the learning |
| C | Seeks and responds to feedback to progress the learning |
| D | Seeks and/or provides a response to feedback |
| E | Acknowledges feedback |
Learning Goal: to build a budgeting spreadsheet and teach Year 11 students to use it.
- Targeted request to teacher: "Is my plan to teach it in one 45-minute session realistic?"
- Feedback: split it into two sessions with practice time.
- Request to two Year 11 students: "After this trial, what was confusing?"
- Feedback: the formulas tab was overwhelming.
- Response: hid the formulas tab and added a one-page guide; kept the two-session plan.
- Evidence: emails, a feedback log, before-and-after screenshots.
Only asking "Is it good?" You get vague feedback.
Acting on all feedback without judgement. Explain your choices.
Not recording feedback. If it is not in your Portfolio, it cannot be assessed.
Practice questions
Original practice questions graded from foundation to exam level, each with a full worked solution. Try them before revealing the solution.
foundation3 marksRewrite this vague request as targeted feedback: 'Can you look at my project?'Show worked solution →
Example: "I'm planning a survey of Year 10 students about part-time jobs. Could you check whether my five questions are clear and whether any would make students uncomfortable answering?"
It names the task, the specific aspect (clarity and sensitivity of questions) and makes it easy for the co-agent to give useful feedback.
Marking guide: 1 mark for context, 1 mark for a specific focus, 1 mark for a clear question.
core4 marksCreate a feedback log entry showing a discerning response to two pieces of feedback that pull in different directions.Show worked solution →
| Date | Co-agent | Feedback | My response and why | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 14 May | Mentor (graphic designer) | Use fewer fonts; the poster looks cluttered | Acted on it: it matches design principles I had read about | Poster is clearer; two classmates said the message stood out |
| 14 May | Friend | Add more images to make it exciting | Partly acted on it: added one strong image instead of several, because the mentor's point about clutter still applied | Kept the design clean but more eye-catching |
This shows the student weighing feedback and justifying choices.
Marking guide: 1 mark per feedback item recorded, 1 mark for justified responses, 1 mark for the result.
exam5 marksExplain how seeking feedback on the learning process, not just the product, strengthens an AIF Portfolio.Show worked solution →
AIF assesses how you learn. Feedback on the product ("the jumper sleeves are uneven") helps improve the output, but feedback on the process ("you are spending too long researching and not enough time practising") helps you improve your strategies, time management and decisions, which are the criteria being assessed.
Seeking process feedback gives evidence of metacognition and self-regulation: you show awareness of how you are learning and adjust it. Recording the feedback, your response and its effect creates Portfolio evidence for PA1, and later material for Progress Checks (PA3, A2) and the Appraisal (A2).
Marking guide: 2 marks for distinguishing process and product feedback, 2 marks for linking to assessed skills, 1 mark for linking to later assessment types.