pretest
Pretesting has proved be an effective tool to see where the students are. It also gives me a chance to see you needs more attention.
William,
My version also includes board exercises. These are examples written on the white board, with time for students to work on them in my presence, then as a group, we review the questions. Next part is a take home version of the same kind of examples.
Barry Westling
Pretest in my class is used on a need basis, When a student or small group of students show a frustration in retaining the material I offer them a pretest so that they can focus on just what areas they are short in and I will know what areas they need additional instruction in. If the pretest is used as a blanket test for all it becomes a tool for the instructor in knowing where the over all class is at a certain point in the lecture but also presents a picture of thoses students who are not prepared to continue on in the sequentail process of the presentation. If taken as a group pretest this data can cause an unconscious influence on the lecture to slow down and thus cause a compaction of data to be presented at the end of the course period. Time must be managered in order to cover the data for all not the few, but if pretests are focused for the few and then used as a tutoral moment afterwards. It allows those that haven't obtained the data to catch up without effecting the whole group. It also removes the tenacity of the instructor to say non-productive statements like well the rest of the class got it why haven't you or your group, for the instructor will simply not know the rest of the class progress thus their unconscious mind will improve ther performance as an instructor. Long winded I know but I hope you gasp what I am trying to say.
Mary,
I like pretesting too. I don't always do it, but when I do, I find I learn more about my students and that helps me modify my class to better suit their cumulative prior learning.
Barry Westling
I love using pre-test!!!! It shows me the strength and weakness of the students,so now I know what I need to focus on more when lecturing and tutoring them.
Rose,
In a way, this is probably true. When I pretest, I don't grade them because the information and feed back I receive is for me.
Barry Westling
This is so. I would like to think that my pretests are "quizes". Shortened versions of the exam to see where the student is with there retention of the chapter
Michael,
This is a good variation and a great way to introduce new material to that already possessed.
Barry Westling
Pretest, in my situation, works well as a reflection point. My course has 5 modules.
The pretest in the next module is more of a review from material already learned in the previous module. Then, I add several questions regarding new material to be learned in the new module.
This gives the students a sense of recal information they are familiar with and they don't get freaked out on material they are unsure about.
Regina,
Pretesting is only valuable in settings where it's proven to be effective. In your case, I'd say avoid them. For others, I might have a different response.
Barry Westling
I have found in my student dynamics (of course this varies between different terms) that pretests don't really work. They in the end scare the student to stay so what I do is give them a mini exposure of what they will learn and pair them up with a senior student and I have found that decreases the intimidation factor.
Valonda,
I have been in classes that used a pretest and I liked it. It did show that I knew something about the material and I felt good about that. Good feelings usually help students with a sense of accomplishment and conviction they can be successful.
Barry Westling
I believe pretest are effective tools to see where students are at and it helps to guide them in their studies. What I mean by that is if a student is really good in one area and not so good in another then the area that the student is good at may not need much attention because they know the material however if a student does not know the material that is a key area they can focus their studies on so that they can gain a better knowledge of the material. Students like to know where they stand and by allowing a student to take a pretest really gives them an idea of where they are and what else they need to do to get to where they need to be at.
Cory,
Right. Planning and appropriate emphasis assesment are among the benefits of pretesting.
Barry Westling
