These are skills that are required and applied everyday of our lives. If a student is week in any of these areas, it may put their future employment chances and retintion in jeopardy.
By determining a student's ability to write, speak, problem solve, critically think, & their ethics & value systems, the instructor can better develop their lesson plans, which will positively impact ALL students. If the teaching is geared too high for some students, you will lose them from the start.
Hi Nicole- Thanks for your post to the forum. That baseline assessment gives us information that will help us to accomodate the needs of our students by adjusting our teaching and/or getting the students the remedial help that they need.
Hi Tonia- Thanks for your post to the forum. As you point out, to be an effective teacher we must constantly be re-evaluating our teaching and re-inventing ourselves. Best wishes for continued success in your teaching career. Susan
As a Dental Instructor in my class I have student with different age gap and of course different learning skills.
I beleve that the first assesment test is to help me reilize what kind of teacher I need to be to accomodate the need of my student and help in their learning process.
Students typically need to use reading, writing, and analytical reasoning skills in all fields and disciplines in order to perform successfully and/or demonstrate competence. Thus, instructors' having a baseling assessment may be key for instructors to facilitate student-centered learning.
You have to know your students level of education skills to know where to start and how to teach your students. You have to know how your students learn in order to know how to teach them.
Hi Sunny - Thanks for your post to the forum. Unfortunately, the lack of general eduaction skills often puts our students at risk of failing our career/technical classes. It is important that we give them every remedial assistance that we can. Best wishes- Susan
The assessment of general education skills such as reading, written communication, and math is important to instructors because each student may be at a different level, and it's important to be able to teach to all of them. Some students might be great at math, but do not have a very clear handle on reading comprehension or writing. It's important to assess where these students are so that those skills can be worked on and improved, instead of looked over and given a failing grade.
You are right since if you can not read the basics, you will not ever pass a class.
Hi Leonardo - Thanks for your post to the forum. Although my college has a tutoring center, often, as you mention, it is more helpful to get some on-on-one help from the instructor. Best wishes for continued success in your teaching career. Susan
Sometimes it is helpful to give a little tutoring to some of the students you get that have a lower skill level. This is something someting that could not only be the student's ability to succeed, but also continue on in thier retention in school
Susan
No, I don't. I try to make my own assessments during my first few classes. Through conversation with the individual and through the discussions we have in class at the beginning of the term, I can get some idea of what level various students are at.
Thanks
Hi Linsey- Thanks for your post to the forum. Do you get any information on the General Education skills of your students before they begin your class or do you do the assessments yourself? Best wishes for continued success in your teaching career. Susan
It helps us to a certain degree determine how well the student will perform in our class. If they do not assess well on these skills, that should bring up a red flag to the instructor. It means that the student may have issues learning the concepts and skills taught in the class. If this occurs, it can cause the student to lose their positive attitude as they go through the course. The instructor needs to be aware of that so that they can prepare to figure out how to deal with it so the student does not fail.
By assessing the general skills of the students, the teacher can choose the best delivery techniques to use for effective learning.
I teach at a culinary school, so we have many visual and kinetic exercises to help students learn. Math is another story, but at least there are visual tools like measuring cups and scales available.
To better understand your students and where they are with reading and written communication when they arrive in class. This will help in refining the course as you teach the course.
Hi Anita- Thanks for your post to the forum. Yes, it is essential that we identify deficiencies in general education skills as soon as possible. Unfortunately, we are limited in our abilites to bring those students to the level required to be able to succeed in our classes in the short time that they are enrolled in our programs. Best wishes for continued success in your teaching career. Susan
Assessment of general education skills are an indicator of their success in college. It is also useful in determining the level of competency and if foundational/developmental courses are necessary to ensure their success.
Hi Melanie- Thanks for your post to the forum. Yes, we do need to be able to know what the reading and writing abilities(general education skills)of our students are. Unfortunately too many of our students arrive at our colleges with limited skills. We must get them all the remedial assistance that we can, but it really makes our job more difficult. Also, we hav to ponder, is it fair to give those students more leeway because they have limited gen ed skills?? Best wishes for continued success in your teaching career. Susan
