I teach in the medical field and pretests help me to know who my students are. They all come from different backgrounds but if my class is full of students that have all worked in a hospital or clinic prior, then I will instruct differently than if they all were straight out of high school with no background.
Mark,
Great! Clickers (Klickerez) provide a great way to ask questions and solicit responses. Of course this tool can be a great way to faciltate discussions, augment Q&A activities, or use during review sessions. More traditional methods of assessing prior knowledge also are helpful to get an sense about what students know (or don't know) about a topic or category of learning. With that knowlege, planning for a class will be more focused and use what time is available more productively.
Barry Westling
I like using Klickerz with my pretests. It gives students anonymity but also allows the rest of the class to see where they stand.
Melvin,
Very rational perspective. But it makes sense the more information we know about prior learning can only positively contribute to assessing what to plan for maximum learning and time usage.
Barry Westling
Pretests help immensely with planning because in order to determine where to take students, we must find out where they are currently at.
Allison,
Yes, and I have found that better performing students will use the information assessed on a pretest to look ahead and begin working on areas of study they determine will be upcoming, and they want to get a head start. The average student will not do this, and just wait for whatever comes when the instructor plans it out.
Barry Westling
I personally love pretests, it not only gives me an awareness of where the student is at, but it allows the student to use the pretest as a study guide to see where and how they can improve there knowledge and their skill.
Tracey,
Great plan! Pretesting helps the instructor decide where the priorities are for a given class. In the end, everyone benefits and less time is wasted on material that needs less attention.
Barry Westling
I will be giving a math pretest before we jump into the intro math course. I have to see where everyone is starting from and make sure that they are ready to go forward.
Yes that makes sence. It would make it easier for both student and instructor. Thank you
Edward,
Good points! I'm sure no instructor would deny answering a students question during a class session. In a similar way, pretesting provides a way for us to ask a question(s) beforehand so that we can effectively and more thoroughly answer the students questions in a meaningful and specific manner. It's a great tool for the instructor to be more effective too.
Barry Westling
Lizette,
My early experiences with pretesting came from medical training, where a brief assessment before the training would assist both myself and the instructor know which areas of information were more important to prioritize. When an instructor receives information about prior learning and abilities of their students, they will be better able to assist their students (collectively and individually) in learning and understanding new information.
Barry Westling
Pretests are essential. Students might have more or less background knowledge than you anticipate. If the students have more knowledge than expected, but the instructor doesn't know beforehand, the students might be bored by the first few days of class. If the students have less knowledge than expected, an instructor who is aware of that situation can schedule a day for reviewing preliminary topics.
Usually, I have a few students who have more knowledge than expected and a few who have less. In that common situation, pretesting helps me figure out which students will require the most individual assistance. Fortunately, I usually have small classes and can afford to give individual attention to students.
Pretesting sounds like a great idea. It helps the students to know what information they need for this class. As well as help me assess where their deficencies are thus enabling me to address them before getting to that information. This would help the students learning to flow easier.
Carla,
Right, and I've found it doesn't take a whole big comprehensive assessment to determine where my students are at. I just select a few choice questions that, depending on their answers will give me a good idea where any adjustments I may need to make.
Barry Westling
Because there are such a vast array of backgrounds in the classroom , it is important to know where your students are in the knowledge of your subject matter. The pretest is one way of finding out where your students are lacking in that knowledge, and thus arranging your material as needed.
Alicia,
Right. We want to help our students, and usually have a predetermined curriculum planned. But if we can gain some insight into a students prior learning, we can customized our curriculum to better assist our students achieve the course objectives.
Barry Westling
Alan,
Super!, Really, any information we collect about our students from using a pretest is useful. We may be looking for one thing, and learn something more than we were expecting. Any knowledge about our students prior learning is a helpful tool.
Barry Westling
It allows you to determine how knowledgable your students are in a particular subject. It helps you as an instructor to focus on areas of weakness.
Using a pretest can help me by seeing what they know and dont know. It also makes me aware of there vocabulary as well. By this I can plan out m lessons and plans for the course. This way I can keep the students engaged and motivated.
