Hi John - Yes, getting students out of their seats is ALWAYS a good thing! Thanks for your post to the forum. Best wishes for continued success in your teaching career. Susan
Hi Leandro- Pre-testing is excellent! As you say it gives students a measure of what they have achieved. Susan
In our organization we start our course as well throughout the course with a pre-test. This way the student can compare at the end of the day how much the learned and at the same time we can make adjustments from the beginning of the course rather than later. Also, this gives the students hands on approach to our testing.
I frequently have the students either come to the white boards or while at their desks, simply write a short response to a question pertaining to the class being taught and draw questions out after providing them a few moments to gather their thoughts on the subject. This seems to work rather well (l learned this from a guest instructor from USF, it worked well on me! The two opportunities I have incorporated it in my classroom seemed to make the students come alive.
Hi Melvin- I especially like the minute papers as you are just asking students to write down what they learned in the lesson just taught and to list any questions they may have. This should work for students of any age. Best wishes for continued success in your teaching careeer. Susan
I teach x-ray to medical assistant students. I have the advantage of using the x-ray lab to assess what the students have gained from my lecture and also from what they have read in their book.
How can i incorporate CAT into a group of mixed age students? Some times the younger students cannot relate.
A series of T/F, multiple choice, or fill in the blank questions at the end of each major block of instruction to gauge comprehension and understanding of the material and to determine whether a review is needed before moving on.
Yes indeed CATs are important for both instructors and students. I would use Background Knowledge probe because through this technique I would be able to prepare my class content according to their learning aptitude. I believe knowing your student’s skill level helps you to create productive lectures and better understanding with the student.
Hi Judith- Thanks for your post to the forum. Your integrative approach to questioning is excellent. It is well formulated and as you mention, prepares students for future assessments.
Best wishes for continued success in your teaching career. Susan
At the end of a unit of instruction, I have found it helpful to orally "quiz" students about some of the key points we discussed during the last class sessions. The questions I use are similar to some of the questions they will see on the unit test that they will take during the next class. This oral quiz is a good way for me to understand how much the students have remembered about what we covered, and it is a good reference for them to take notes about what they don't know, so that they can study for the "actual" test. I also use the quiz information as a way to evaluate how well I covered the material during the lecture part of the class.
Hi Sam - Thanks for your post to the forum. You are doing a great job of getting your students involved in active learning! Best wishes for continued success in your teaching career. Susan
I like to tell my students to read a chapter or two on a topic and we dicuss the topic to start the class. I allow open feedback and do in class assignments or projects with real situations to see if material was understood.
