Get Your Students Hired
Wendy,
I find asking a lot of questions helps define where students' prior knowledge resides at any given moment.
Barry Westling
James,
Yes, the pretest format can be as varied as the limits of imagination. The results are what's important and useful for the instructor.
Barry Westling
Understanding how much the students know, assists with the degree of difficulty in the lecture.
There's an old saying, "If I don't know that I don't know, I think I know." A pre-test either confirms a student's existing knowledge or sends a wake-up call. The pre-test can just be given as a discussion portion of class rather than paper-and-pencil assessments.
Robert,
Good. If we know the eventual outcome we're seeking, knowledge about where the students prior knowledge can benefit the instructor by tweaking the curriculum in an effort to bring the class together to a common level, and then expanding the instructional process from that point.
Barry Westling
Eric,
Each class is different and usually requires some adjustment to their individual cohort needs, and pretesting is one way of discerning what those unique needs might be.
Barry Westling
It can help you to determine what level of knowledge your students are at thereby informing how much time should be spent on bringing students up to par with future course content.
Sean,
Great - this is pretty much why taking the time for pretesting is worthwhile.
Barry Westling
A pretest would give the instructor a solid idea of where the students abilities and knowledge lay at that time. This information can be used to make sure the students are ready for the material you are going to present, and they won't be overwhelmed (not up to speed with the material) or overly bored (far beyond the material). Either way you can plan accordingly and adjust your delivery as needed.
Don,
Yeah, and often, the most valuable activity an instructor could do would be to simply circulate around the classroom answering questions while students work on "homework-oriented" assignments. When I plan a lesson, I try to determine what resources will most useful - sometimes, the instructor is the best resource for a given assignment.
Barry Westling
I think pretests are a good way to gauge where to spend most of your instructional time in the class. I believe they also help the students to focus their attention on the important topics of the class.
Michelle,
Sure, and pretests help with tweaking the curriculum too. If I know I have to spend a bit more time introducing a new idea, that's going to save me time overall, and it'll benefit the students with better understanding.
Barry Westling
by the use of pre test I can learn the study habits as well as pre knowledge of the course. I can use this with the future tests I prepare.
Roland,
Yes, pretests provide information that can assist an instructor tweak their curriculum to better match the general past learning of the current cohort of students.
Barry Westling
Kendalle,
I think you've got it. Test anxiety can be a real barrier for some, so if we can demonstrate their is no harm in trying and the grade won't count, students are likely to want to participate, and thus, provide information to the instructor about prior learning.
Barry Westling
Thanks, that's sound like a great idea. We do play games for quizes, but we do not have a device with buttons :).
The use of pretest are very helpful and dont waste a students time to complete a course. It goes over the weaknesses that can be assessed with indivduals in a particular subject. This in turn will help the instructor narrow in on the material to be taught through out the course.
Using a pretest not only helps you but the students as well. With the students they know what to expect from you. they also helps to ease thier anxiety about the course. How it helps you is that it gives y ou an insight on what areas they need more help with.
Syed,
Another fun and anonymous way to get a sense of where the class as a whole are stronger or weaker is the use of "clickers". Each student is given a small handheld device that allows them to choose one answer (a,b,c,d, or e) from a question displayed on the screen, and the computer program records the cumulative responses and displays the sum in a bar graph format. Discussion can occur, and then move on to another question. I once gave the same pretest at the end of a course and results were of course quite different. I wanted to instill encouragement about their progress.
Barry Westling