Hi Maggie, Thanks for your post to the forum. I also prefer to use CATs at the end of my classes. Best wishes for continued success in your teaching career.
Susan Polick
CATs can be quickly administered. I think they would be better administered at the end of the class rather than before. An example might be a minute paper where you ask the students to smmarize what was learned that day, any questions they may have, or what they found to be most interesting. This summarization can then be used to taylor your lecture to meet the needs of the student
Hi Sherri, Thanks for your post to the forum.You are doing a great job of running an active learning classroom! Best wishes for continued success in your teaching career.
Susan Polick
I love using CATs as short breaks between lectures or clinic time. I work in a career college that offers accelerated coursework. So, it is not uncommon to have 4-5 hour time slots or lecture times to fill. This is a long period of time for students to sit and pay attention. The students love the breaks of doing 1 min writing exercises or sometimes I just have them partner up and discuss what they have just learned. It wakes them up and often time sparks a Q and A session that may of otherwise never happened.
I can incorporate CATs into my lectures in the form of asking students to summerize the lecture. This way I will be able to hear what information the student actually retained and their understanding of the lecture objectives.
CATs are a great learning tool. They can help bridge the gap from information to test questions. It also lets the students know what the instructor expects from them. I include CAT's before and after my lectures.
Suzanne, I agree. We currently use CATs to make sure our students understand all the requirements needed to be placed on externship. Using CATs helps us to identify potential problems and helps to streamline issues before they occur.
Real time feedback is a better indicator whether or not the information being shared with your students is 'sinking in'. There is no worse picture them seeing a student struggling during an exam when nothing during my instruction has registered. This way, I can determine what is effective and what needs to be fine tuned in my presentation.
Hi Jennifer, Thanks for your post to the forum. Getting feedback within your PPT is really excellent! Best wishes for continued success in your teaching career.
Susan Polick
Hi Tavia, Thanks for your post to the forum. I am very happy that you have found the information on CATs useful!
Best wishes for continued success in your teaching career.
Susan Polick
Hi John, Thanks for your post to the forum. That immediate feedback is ideal! Best wishes for continued success in your teaching career.
Susan Polick
I agree that CATs are a great way to assess the student during class time. When using a powerpoint presentation, I always make sure to add a Review/Assessment slide after few specific topics that were discussed. I ask the students the questions and we discuss them as a class. This helps me to see how much information they retained from the lecture. This also helps me to see if the students are retaining the information and if not, I know I need to find a different type of assessment.
I didn't know anything about CAT until I took the module. What I feel it can do is really help those student who really don't like to ask questions and also for those who participate alot it could be the best way for them to ask those questions that the instructor didn't get an chance to answer in class. Now I can provide my student with the opportunity at the end of class to write down questions and write down what they got out of the lecture for that day.
I like to utilize a questioning session after a lab exercise. Back in the classroom after the students have (or think that they have) completed a lab exercise, I go around the room asking why they got the results that they did. It usually reveals that some of them did not follow directions and did not understand the process being studied.
Hi Pete, That is a great example of effective use of CATs!
Susan Polick
Using CAT's provides an instant feedback to encourage the students to continue the process.
Hi Denise, That frequent, timely feedback is so valuable to our students and also to us. Best wishes for continued success in your teaching career.
Susan Polick
I like to use a "minute quiz" format to assess student's learning in the areas of knowledge and comprehension. I have students respond to four or five questions that are directly related to the objectives. Having students write their names on top of the page secures validity in their own minds even though these quizes are not evaluated. I will encourage students to hold on to these quizzes in anticipation of the unit quiz that may be approaching. If students have saved their minute quizzes they can see the questions and answers that will appear on the test. Plus it provides short-cuts to studying in case a student has employment/life schedule concerns.
Better knowledge of what the students are thinking
It can help the Instructor understand the students better.
