Hi Jocelyn:
Good example of a practical side to pretesting.
Regards, Barry
I have not used pretesting for a specific course before. I have asked pre-clinical thoughts, feelings, goals expected, and what previous experiences have you had in relation to this clinical experience, which was very helpful.
What are suggestions for developing a pretest for a course? Would you use a version of the final exam?
Pretesting is a useful tool to assess what level your students are when entering your course.
For example if you are requiring APA format and the students have no prior knowledge then you must ensure they have the resources available to learn APA.
Jocelyn Dervis
Hi Rose:
Great example and a good principle demonstrated as well.
Regards, Barry
Hi Mardi:
I think pretests can also create a preview to the students of what's ahead in the course and that gives the teacher an opportunity discuss specific aspects of the course and perhaps what to begin to plan for in the coming weeks of the course. Done well, this can provide insight and interest in the course.
Regards, Barry
I teach a math class and I find that giving a pre-test helps me gauge the overall knowledge level of the group so that I can plan my lectures based accordingly.
It allows for you to assess the knowledge base of your students and then you can tailor your class to the student needs.
Hi Todd:
Yup! Pretesting can also be used by faculty as a curriculum planning tool as well. Some institutions don't allow too much deviation in how much lattitude the teacher has in modifying the daily lessons. But pretesting can be a great help when there is an ability to tweak the course based on results of pretesting.
Regards, Barry
always a good filter for classroom material prior to teaching
Hi William:
Personally, I'm hesitant to let students grade each others paper for reasons of confidentiality and our litigious society and mentality that exists these days. Given an innocent environment, I think this is a practical application of learning through observation (of others work).
Important is the planning tool pretesting provides the teacher. Adjustments to curriculum fcan be implemmenteed when it is known where general weaker areas of student performance reside in a class cohort.
Regards, Barry
As stated in several posts, pre-tests are effective ways to determine what material to focus on not just evaluate students knowledge. One of the simple ways to use a pre-test is to allow the students to exchange papers and grade it themselves. Generally, adult learners are less sensitive to how their peers see them and really want to see what they know and what they need additional help on. This is a great motivator as they are exposed to the material in the course of the class.
Hi Issac:
I think pretesting is a tool that is helpful but is underused a great deal. It's probably not applicable for every class or lesson, but it does have it's benefits, both to the student and teacher, primarily for planning purposes.
Regards, Barry
I have neevr used pretests before.
Hi David:
True, by performing pretesting we can lean about the students. Also, that information can be used as a planning tool to modify or tweak our lessons to match the students areas of needing improvement.
Regards, Barry
Hi Gloria:
Your class seems like a great laboratory for pretesting as it will help you plan and learn much about your students, their acdemic past, and their current needs.
Regards, Barry
Gloria Morrow Jan. 7, 2010 6:05 p.m.
I have taught both composition 1 and comp. 2. I
have used a pretest in my comp 2 classes to help
determine the extent of grammatical knowledge
gained from their comp. 1 class. I use it to plan
an individual program for each student. They work
on what they need to learn to bring them up to the 2nd level. Students who learned the grammar
lesson previously don't have to repeat it need-
lessly. Boredom with grammar is kept to a minimum
and motivation to continue is high.
Helps you to evalaute just where the students are knowledge and or, skills wise.
Hi Ken:
Great example! I think there are classes where pretesting may not be helpful, but in most cases, if there's time to develop these pretests they ought to be used.
Regards, Barry
Hi Cynthia:
Although pretesting is a valuable and underused tool, I don't think it's practical to use too much - maybe at the beginning of a new class or term, something like that. As a planning tool for the instructor, I think its terrific when it's used.
Regards, Barry
Pre-test are very helpful especially when coupled with a post-test....paints the true picture of what occurred in the exchange between instructor and student in their educational exhange. We use them very effectively in our 2 week courses of instruction.
