Hi Meredith:
Additionally, these can show you what kind of student learner you have, which can make for more effective lesson planning.
Regards, Barry
Hi Kim:
Another consideration is that using these tools can also help an instructor see what kind of student learner they have, makikng lesson planning more effective.
Regards, Barry
Pretests are a great tool because I will know the level at which individuals students are at.
I pretest in all of my classes. It helps me to see where my students knowledge base is when they come into the class. I then can adjust my course to their prior knowledge and accelrate or repeat basics if needed.
Hi Steve:
Great! I don't always use pretesting, but I fiund where it works best is with new students I know little about, usually at the beginning od a term, and when I want to test thde waters on where my emphasis will be with this cohort of students.
Regards, Barry
It will allow me to evaluate what i need to focus on as a set of skills for each class i teach.
Pretests help establish a marker of where students are and what can be reviewed and what needs to have special emphasis. A pretest can also make students aware of what they will cover in the course - a sort of milepost/guide for them.
I believe pretests are helpful in that they allow you to understand where your students are at in the course content. That way, if a majority of the students are struggling with a certain area I am able to spend more time, or address that topic right away to get the ball rolling and have the students discuss the topic in order to help them learn it. Then I'm not spending too much time on areas that they are already knowledgeable in and I am helping them where they may be lacking.
Pre tests can help you set the speed of topics being covered and plan based on the ability of the overall class.
Pretesting allows an instructor to see exactly what the students are understanding. The information that is not being understood needs to be re-taught using a different method.
I use pretests to evaluate the students. It helps me identify the areas they will need additional work or what i need to review for to bring them up to speed. It also shows the learner what areas they need to spend some additional time studying so that they can be successful in that topic.
Pretest helps me plan the correct learning strategy for my class
It lets you know what you need to focus more in class and the subjects you need to spend more time on.
I think pretesting would help to analyze the class to see what backgrounds they are coming from and help determine how to approach the teaching methods of the class as a whole.
being effective to all the students can be helped by the use of a pretest. The overall course can then be devised to fit the mid level and will help all aptitudes.
Pretesting allows the instructor to prepare the teaching tools and content information to a level that will best suit the students. I believe this will allow for better learning as well as better absorption of knowledge.
I do not do pre-test in my courses but after this module, I will start. I can see how giving a pre-test can allow you to assess the background knowledge of your students. Knowing this can give you an idea of where to start and what to expect from your the students in your course. A pre-test could also give the student an idea of where they are in relation to the level of understanding you expect them to have once they have completed the class.
I use pretests to determine what the students already know. It helps me know how advanced I can go with certain topics.
Barry,
I like pre-tests and actually started using them in some of my classes for 2 reasons. One, it does help me with planning my lessons for a course. Second, it also show students how much they know and don't know about a subject. I teach a Intro to Computer class that presents challenges every time I teach it. The students come in with the attitude "I don't have to study or come to class because I know computers and the web and I am on Facebook everyday". In reality, my student end up knowing very little about terminology, some computer concepts, and applications like Excel, PowerPoint, and Access.
So now I use the pretesting to show them how little they actually know about about computers. It also gives me a better idea of where I need to start and how fast or slow I must proceed so that I have most of the class with me. I will also add or take away class projects to help reinforce ideas and concepts and give my students more hands on time doing various tasks on the computer and in various applications.
A pretest can help me to determine if certain skills need demonstrating or if those items can be pre-preped to make the demo more focused on relevant tasks
