To evaluate my student's level of knowledge, I also use introduction in the first meeting of the class. Asking them their background and what type of experience they have with the area of study they have chosen, and what line of work they were in if changing careers. I also take notes on that and it becomes a supporting document of my pretest.
Combination of both gives me the information and abilities of my students.
Jeff,
I agree, and believe it is the rare student that comprehends, understands, and retains all needed information. Repetition and review ought to be part of every lesson. And at the outset, a pretest can help determine where curricular tweaks may need to be made.
Barry Westling
Pretests are a great tool for identifying students current knowledge level of course material, which can help the instructor to tailor his/her approach to the material depending on how students perform on the assessment. Sometimes, students may have a strong understanding of a topic area, which will allow you as the instructor to focus more time on areas of less understanding/knowledge. However, most times I have found that students tend to have limited knowledge (it seems like knowledge/course material retention is a continuing problem) - even retained from one course to the next, so pretests can help the instructor to focus on those areas of limited knowledge/understanding and plan accordingly. Additionally, lack of knowledge/understanding of course material may result in the instructor needing to identify additional resources to cover the knowledge/understanding gap.
Terri,
I believe there are many career-specific general aptitude assessments available, some pencil/paper and some online. Over the years I've used several. While most can give some insight into aptitude, one limitation for them all is none has been able to adequately identify traits that sometimes create problems, such as attendance, punctuality, language, attitude, professionalism, responsibility, dependability, etc. Perhaps these attributes cannot be measured? I do a personal interview which helps define potential problem areas, but a brief interview or aptitude test cannot reveal future behavior.
Barry Westling
In our program, we are finding that the general screening test for admission does not tell us whether the students are equipped to meet the demands of our courses. We are looking at a second set of criteria to increase student success and retention.
Curran,
Whatever we find from pretesting gives the instructor an edge in determining where to tweak the class lesson plans.
Barry Westling
probably the best result I've seen from using a pre test is to help certain students recognize that they don't know quite as much as they thought they did when entering a specific course.
Michael,
Very interesting. I'm sure many students are astonished how far they've come.
Barry Westling
Kurt,
Great. And of course, the instructor as much as the students, which is a win-win.
Barry Westling
I made it a policy 10 years ago to give the final on the first day of class and it has worked like a charm ever since. I glean huge amounts of information from it about my class and when they take the final on the last day of class they can see what they learned by comparing the two test scores.
Pretesting is huge for my school. Being a vocational school, it is not only important to see where the students are coming in, but each new module instructor needs to determine where the students stand from the last module. This gives them an insight on what will be reviewed in the first week.
Ashlee,
I don't always pretest. When I do, I want to see where more or less emphasis needs to be for a given cohort of students.
Barry Westling
I have used pretests to help identify what the students know or do not know as well as to give them an idea of what to expect in the course. After a pretest I am then able to plan lessons based on what they already know and what I will need to expand on. I think students like to know what they will be learning about in the course. I think a pretest will also help to prepare them for the course.
Laurna,
Yes, the most frequent benefit in using pretesting is it helps avoid wasting time, for both assuming student do know prerequisite material, and spending unnecessary time on remedial information.
Barry Westling
Pretests allow instructors to identify specific areas of student need and focus on those areas through course material. It can be very challenging for instructors to accommodate the needs of many different learners in the classroom, but pretests allow instructors to hone in on topics or skills that students may be missing to provide an effective foundation for more advanced work. This can have a significant impact on student confidence levels and success.
Martha,
In any case, students benefit in some way from pretesting. I don't grade pretests, and I receive as much benefit as anyone by fine tuning my lessons plans accordingly.
Barry Westling
The pretest will also be useful in helping students see what they can expect to learn in the class. Sometimes I have students who think they know everything and they tune me out because they think they "know it all". The pretest might serve to help the students see that there are still opportunities to expand their knowledge of the topic at hand. In some instances, the pretest will identify the student who does "know it all" and I can provide relevant material for the student to learn.
Larissa,
You will likely find benefit to learning something about your students prior knowledge.
Barry Westling
This is a very interesting tool to use for the first class. I am also really interested in using the objectives and course foci as a basis for the pretest.
Shawn,
You've described one of the main benefits students receive when an instructor performs pretesting -- that is preview of testing formats. Even the best students can experience test anxiety, and part of the root of test anxiety is the fear of the unknown. Therefore, methods (like pretesting) that can give students an idea of how testing is likely to be conducted could only help.
Barry Westling
