Continued self-assessment by the instructor is as important as assessment of the students knowledge. By incorporating CATs into the teaching allows both areas to be assessed
This CATs idea is new to me but I like it. Being informal and off the cuff I can get an honest and open feel for how well a class is getting the information presented. I think it can be done in a fun since there is no pressure on the students.
Hi Rodney, Thanks for your post to the forum. Your note taking instruction is excellent. It's amazing how so many students do not have that very basic study skill! Best wishes for continued success in your teaching career.
Susan Polick
One of the many ways I use CATs in my classroom is as a tool for assessing a student's ability to glean the right information from a lecture. Usually this is as one of my daily bellringer format activities where I have students take notes during a lecture or even a hands on activity. At the end of class I give basic questions that encompass the student listening for important concepts and knowing when and what is important for their success. I find this really works well in helping to cement concepts in their mind through repetition as well. I also do a lecture on how to take notes on the first day of classes so it is not a surprise when this happens. I use this type of assessment first because I need to gauge where a student is academically and where I may need to help them because if they struggle in knowing what is important from the beginning it will be an arduous task to get them to right place by the time we have our first real test. It also works well because we do bellringers daily and they are not heavily weighted like a test so it is a non-threatening daily gauge.
I like the idea of this and plan to bring this to my classroom. It would be nice to get an ungraded idea of where students stand prior to a quiz or test so I can review accordingly.
Hi Karen, Thanks for sharing some of the significant benefits of CATs! Best wishes for continued success in your teaching career.
Susan Polick
I've found that CATs show me if I have been effective (or not) teaching a specific topic. It makes it clear that they all understood or not, providing an opportunity for me to cover the material again using a different format or technique. CATs can also bring people back in when I've perhaps been droning on too long by providing an active brain break. ;)
These assessments allow me to give immediate feedback to the students: for clarification, expansion, or just to let them know they weren't the only one with a particular question.
I think time management is essential in our school And using CAT as a source will help feel out the classes abilitie
I give class room assessments at the end of each week
CATs can help inform an instructor in which ways students learn. Then if a particular student is having trouble understanding, the instructor will have a better understanding in which way to help instruct the student.
Hi Aleah, Thanks for your post to the forum. I would guess that student give extra effort to their work when they know they will be sharing it with their classmates. Best wishes for continued success in your teaching career.
Susan Polick
In my journalism courses, I like to have students read their work out loud to the entire class, then ask their peers to provide feedback. It provides them with a fresh new layer perspective.
Arturo, I think this is a great idea also to find out who was paying attention and who was not.It will definetly keep them on their toes to pay attention. I like the idea of the minutes paper also.
It lets you know where students retention level is at, and where they need reviewing to understand
I like the idea of having students write down the most important things they got out of a days lecture and have them pose a question. Then students questions are all discussed in 2nd half of lecture
Hi Andrea, Yes, CATs are so easy to utilize and, as you mention, they provide valuable feedback. Best wishes for continued success in your teaching career.
Susan Polick
CATs are a great way of touching base with students to ensure that everyone is on the same page, and that students are gaining the key concepts that you want them to leave the classroom with. By discussing CAT results with the class, you are likely addressing concerns/problem areas that a lot of students may have in common, but which they haven't spoken up about. It gives you a chance to adjust the lesson plan, if necessary, to spend more time on a difficult topic or idea, so that everyone is ready to move on. CATs are valuable for instructors, too, because with that feedback they will likely tweak the lesson plan for future classes.
You can incorporate CATs techniques on each topic discussed in class to help students get involved on the course content, and at the same time evaluate how they are doing in the class. You instantly get feedback from your students when using these assessments and students have an assessment point as well.
Peer review is a stategy that we used in the classromme with great level of success.
I consider feedback as very important in my class. I go over life situations of my own and then students then volunteer to their life situations and then others see they are not alone. This helps me as an instructor to see where my students are coming from and I then get to know them better and they also see that I am human also and have had many of the same life problems and that they can move forward.
