Hi Marianne:
Comprison of first day to last day analysis can be quite useful, both for future classes, and as a measure of the teachers performance with that specfic class.
I don 't think it's always needed for every class every time, just when there is some question about at what level these students are currently performing at.
Regards, Barry
Hi Seth:
Good summary. When a teacher can determine their curriculum is about the right fit fora class, pretesting probably isn't needed. It's those times when there is some uncertainty that having students pretest will prove beneficial, for the reasons you cited.
Another benefit is comparison of first day to last day performance analysis. This can helpful to assist preparing for future classes and also to a degree, provide some degree ofmeasure how the teacher's performance was for that specfific class.
Regards, Barry
Hi Evenlyn:
Good - Even if if there is no post test, one benefit by to the teacher is being abble to adjust where they want to put the emphasis in the course.
Regards, Barry
Hi Phyllis:
I believe teachers can use pretests as a gauge to where the emphasis should be based on the results of pretesting. Why waste time on information if students are mostly familiar with the some of the material already?
At the same time, a teacher may expect students to be able to perform at a certain level and find that that overall, performance is much lower than expected. So here, the emphasis shift would be to possibly sacrifice some higher-level material for basic, foundational lessons.
Of course, all of the objectives for a course have to be met. But individualizing it to improve learning is better than students just tuning out, flunking, or loosing interest in the material because they don't understand.
Regards, Barry
Hi Carlos:
Pretest's don't have to done all the time. But when they are, They can be quite beneficial for both student and teacher.
Comparing first day to last day performance is an interesting analysis to make. Sensing where the class as a whole is generally performing is good information to have when beginning a class, so that time is not wasted and the emphsasi can be adjusted or tweaked in order to maximise the time available.
Some teachers will use pretests as a review process prior to "the test that counts". Also, I don't think taking a pretest bothers too many students when they understand their grade is not likely to be affected by the activity. So, they may even try a little harder. That would be a good thing!
Regards, Barry
Hi Jevaris:
Sometimes things like this work out quite wonderfully.
In my program, I review college transcripts, GPA's, and make admission decisons in part because of this information. We also use several profession specific test. Sometimes, I'll have a student who based on transcripts and GPA would appear to be top of their class. Yet, the testing reveals very poor retention, often enough to deny or postpose an admission decision. This tells me that although they have been exposed to much education, it has not benefited them very much.
So I guess it can go both ways. So it would seem for the merits of pretesting.
Thanks for sharing.
Regards, Barry
Hi Kathleen:
Pretests are good, I don't think they're needed for every class every time. But when there is some uncertainty about what level the students are coming in at, or it's a new class for the instructor, sometimes having some foreknowledghe can make the class a bit more meaningful.
Regards, Barry
A pre-test can be a great guide for an instructor to let you know where your students are as far as background knowledge, etc. It helps you decide what your starting point with the class should be, i.e do you need to start with the most basic explanations or do your students already have a working knowledge of the topic which allows you to just review the "basics" briefly and move more quickly to the next topic.
Hi Elizabeth:
Pretesting is just a tool that can help understand the general classs knowledge and assist the instructor in planning or making adjustments in order to place emphasis where it'll do the most good.
Besides written, another approach may be to compose a list of questions that contains some or all of the course objectives and related topics. Then the teacher could read a question to student A, then ask the class to give their opinions about the answer. After discussion, the teacher would go to the next question and next student and repeat the process.
Although more time consuming then a written test, between the questions asked and the discussion that followed, the teacher would have a pretty good idea where the weaker areas might be.
As always, in open discussion activities, the teacher has to careful that certain students don't dominate the discussion. Effort to draw in everyone is essential.
Regards, Barry
I’ve never thought about giving a “pre-test†to my students. But now I can see the importance of it. I think a pre-test can help with my instructional planning because it allows me to know where to start. It allows me to know what prior knowledge my students have and what they have not yet been exposed to. I love this idea! However, I don’t know if I like pre-test to be given in a written form. Any other ideas of how to gain the same information without pen and paper?
I like the idea of using pretesting as an instructional tool. It gives the instructor an opportunity to gauge the student's comprehension and mastery of concepts before a graded test. The students benefit from early identification, and the instructor learns what areas he is not covering effectively.
Carl
Hi Earle:
Pretesting is good for benchmarking. And your other uses will be usefull too.
I like to compare beginnig of class to end of class performance to see how far the students have come, and also, sometimes, used as a guage of my teaching effectiveness.
I don't do pretesting all the time. It can be helpful when I'm unsure what level the new students are oiperatin at overall, as a group.
Regards, Barry
I teach intro to computers and this course is very basic for an IT savvy individual; but for a student that has never seen the material it can be a very frightening and tedious process to learn. A pretest at the beginning of the course would help me understand what topics I should spend more time on and what topics to cut short. Also is a mixture of savvy and non savvy students I can assign them different roles. The Savvy students can have the role of instructor helper. This keeps their interest in the course and not in the clouds. The non savvy students get the roles of learners. They have the advantage of not only getting help from myself but from the other helpers in the room. This will help them learn and also help with confidence in a subject that may seem foreign.
Pre-test can be an eye opener to the material that is to come. I also give a post test on the material once it is covered and it helps not only the student to see how much they have achieved, but also is a good tool for the instructor to see where improvements in teaching may be needed.
The pretest will help the instructor plan the delivery of the material and also help with choosing class examples, guest speakers, and other additional information which will be presented in class. It will also help the instructor know what to cover more in depth and which information should be addressed in further detail.
Hi Chris:
It's best if we can can give what students need, rather than what is scheduled for (as in our curriculum).
Regards, Barry
Hi Jessica:
Also, comparison of beginning of class to last day of class improvement. Some teachers use these to assess their own teaching effectiveness too.
Regards, Barry
Hi Daniel:
You mention specific. I think that's true. Complimenting that, is that these pre-assessments or "tests" don't have to be long or even partucularly difficult. A good version is one that gives the instructor a measure of where the empahsis of a class might occur.
Rgards, Barry
Hi Thomas:
You're right, this tool helps the teacher and also gives the students some insights into what the course entails.
Regards, Barry
Pre-testing helps the students,they know what to expect in the MOD and it gives them confidence when they take a post test,
