Charlotte,
Many classes have students with varying degrees of readiness for the specific course content. The pretest is one method available to assess where the class as a whole stands, and allows the instructor to make needed adjustments, as applicable.
Barry Westling
I feel a pretest would be great for certain classes. I have students who have no idea how to use a keyboard, nor do they know how to use microsoft word. I usually end up starting from the begining of a book and work students up to where they need to be. It takes longer and other students who are more advanced feel the time is being taken away from them.
Cherie,
This sounds great. In general, any time we can individulize our instruction it becomes personal, and therefore memorable.
Barry Westling
I am an Oral Pathology Instructor, and a pre-test would be helpful in assessing the student's knowledge base for medical terminology, particularly latin prefixes and suffixes. I could tailor the first week of instruction to each students needs, providing additional instruction and learning tools to generally have all students on board with the necessary vocabulary to adequately describe the lesions and medical conditions discussed throughout the course.
ROBBIN,
Yes, me too. I find my lessons can be more focused and targeted when I have a clear idea about where the core knowledge-level of my class is performing.
Barry Westling
I like to use pretests to determine what skills my students are bringing to my class. I can use their skills to help present a point during the lecture. It also helps me focus on the needs of the students. I can prepare lectures based on their basic knowledge skills, teaching new knowledge and reviewing what they already know.
Jeff,
Absolutely! Often, I have to accept that the beginning level of the core of the class is lower that I'd prefer, and the customizing my lessons provides a challenge for me to attain my desired learning outcomes.
Barry Westling
James,
Right. Sometimes the pretest indicates the need for personalization. I take this as a positive, even though extra time will be required on my part.
Barry Westling
Jeanne,
Great idea. Never thought to use this handy tool for alternative uses such as pretesting.
Barry Westling
Pretests can help you know what background knowledge your students may or may not have. this will give you a better idea of which areas you may need to spend more time on then others.
Pre-tests help to tailor the course to meet the needs of the specific students in the course. I like to use survey monkey to do this.
Pretests are a great way to gauge student qualifications at the beginning of a class. Each class has an opportunity to be approached with new perspectives that stem from the results of pretests, allowing for instructors to tailor their delivery towards a specific set of students.
Pretests also offer an early intervention opportunity where plans for further development outside of class may be needed.
I enjoy doing pre-tests through survey monkey. It helps to idenfity what the knowledge base is, and in which areas more time needs to be spent.
Patricia,
Learning styles do vary. I have found it a bit difficult to accurately measure these, even with professionally-developed tools. However, no doubt that getting some inside clue about our students can only be helpful to their learning and our understanding of their prior knowledge.
Barry Westling
Giving pretest to your student helps to determine the knowledge skils your student possesses as well as what style of learning student use. After evaluating this you can develop your class instruction.
Sean,
A pretest can be performed many way, even just an "round-the-room" oral Q&A can yield information.
Barry Westling
Cathy,
Perfect example of a good use of pretesting.
Barry Westling
Glenn,
You are correct. In some classes, based on pretest results, I have divided the class into groups so that my direct interaction with each group is more specific to their level of performance and comprehension.
Barry Westling
Philip,
As an aside, I stopped using the term "test" and now only refer to "assessment, check for understanding, or progress measurement. This has reduced some of the anxiety that usually occurs with tests, and helps remove barriers to the assessment process.
Barry Westling
Dawn,
One way is to approach pretesting is to select what is considered necessary operational skills desired by course end, using course objectives as a guide. You'll probably find most students will fall somewhere in the middle, with some above and below the mean. But that mean will vary between classes, and that should help determine your game plan for lessons.
Barry Westling
