Jean,
You make a great point; but I think with undergrads, we have to walk them through the experience first. I know when I first started using case studies, it was a disaster because students did not know how to "break the problems down" . I now help them develop their tools for doing that.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
In most cases, I don't think students really know what they want to learn, especially in a new class pertaining to their profession. Of course this may be different with the level of the class. Perhaps it would work best for graduate classes where the student has some knowledge of the profession.
Jean Rise
Berrie,
You make a great point. It is important to give students proper feedback from a pretest to prevent discouragement and frustration at the beginning.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
Nate,
You are correct and it is also dependent on the objectives. Not every type of assessment assesses all objectives.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
Ruby,
You make great points. That is so important particularly in your field. Students need to know the importance of boundaries!
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
Jessica,
That is a good idea. It really is a type of pretest of knowledge.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
Cyndy,
I agree with you, you don't want them to drive the course. You still have to be the tour guide or they will miss the important sights that make them successful. Good points!
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
Dr. Michael,
I agree. You really need to know where to start. Also, you may have to provide remediation. I hate to say that but if you can point to other resources that may help.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
I think it is always valuable to start a new course by coming up with a "baseline" of where students are right now (what knowledge and skills they bring to the course on Day 1). In the real world, this may not always be easy to do, but it would help, even if it just involves several multiple-choice questions about what the student brings to the new course.
I think so. I always like to ask students what their goal is from these course and reference those goals so they are able to personalize the information.
I would say yes and no.
Yes the pre-assessment gives the instructor and opportunity to look at the expectations of the student. Where they are in the learning curb. Are they making the choice to take this class becuase they are instrested or because they need it to move on the next level. Do they have a base understanding of the things they have taken up to this point so that they will provider thoughtful response over the course.
No because it may quickly discourage the student if he finds that it is not what he expected. Depending on the course it may not prove to provide any effective feedback that could influence the path of the course.
In reading some of the responses, I agree that it would depend on the course. On more subjective courses, this would be great. You can design a course or guide the course in the manner to which the students responded to the pre-test. On more objective courses, the student probably doesn't know what they are getting in to anyways, so staying with the designed course is necessary.
I agree with you Cyndy, changing the directions of our course could end in jail time. Like you say, Medicare and Medicaid are government run programs and one false move could shut a medical facility, a doctor, nurses, coder, biller, etc. All could end up losing their jobs and face penalties in the process. Even those students who end up in our classes, they still have no clue and when they finish our program they still have a lot to learn which can only be learned on the job.
Ruby Whitehead
Not sure I want my students to revise too much of my course as what I teach has strict regulations and guidelines.... I have students who are "changing" life's directions and have no clue what they are getting into with Medical Billing and the enormous amount of information they have to learn just to have a base knowledge. These are Medicare and Medicaid guidelines and we sure cannot alter this information. I value what some of my students bring to the table but.... there are some... I really do not want in the front of bus driving at this time.
Jack,
That may depend on the institution and on accreditation. :)
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
Kelly,
I would like to say that when faculty come to a common agreement on a curriculum design, one can know with a certain of security, that the degree is on target.
Janis,
I like you thought? Don't you think you are also shaping their framework by asking them to evaluate something?
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
Joni,
WHat an interesting point. I like this. It will also allow you to "nip certain actions in the bud".
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
Jack,
I understand your concern. I think this is done only to hear a view; you as the instructor must be the captain of the ship!
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
It depends,
In general it is very dangerous, and here is why: The student doesn't know what he/she doesn't know (the so-called unknown unknown (Cheney n.d).
I came across students that told me that the Queen of England was not elected, that did not know about the theory on the balance of power, didn't know the difference between Taiwan and mainland China...and I could on for ever.
Why did this happen? Because they were free to decide what courses they would take
The students should be taught what faculty decided, and if they want to know more, let them ask for it, and we will gladly deliver.
