We've used pretests to establish the baseline course educational level of students on the topic and to give them a perspective of the important points of the course (the test looks very similiar to the end of course test!)
I use pretests at the beginning of studio classes to see what information may have to be refreshed, so students can be successful in the course.
Hi John:
Absoutely! When student preparedness matches teacher preparation and delivery, that makes for a great partnership!
Regards, Barry
It helps me by giving me an overview of my students 'readiness' or lack of 'readiness' for the topics. By adjusting to their level of 'readiness' they get more out of the course.
Hi Dale:
Not every teacher uses (or may not be aware) of the benefits pretesting can offer. It does help plan, and gives sytudents a little insight into the class that's coming up too.
Regards, Barry
This is a great idea. I wish I had done this in my last class. To be able to locate the students that will need help or different kinds of instruction will be a benefit to me and the students.
Hi Bethanne
Great! Case studies are an excellent way to assess prior student knowledge. Regardless what they're "supposed" to know, here is the acid test for what they can recall. And the emphasis on critical thinking opportunity is huge!
Regards, Barry
Hi Chanel:
Great point, and besides helping the teacher know their student's prior learning, we can plan and tweak to meet them "where we find them". Students's usually like taking a test if they know it's not graded, too.
Regards, Barry
Hi Bobbi:
You've identified a true principle. Why take valuable time away from students teaching material they already know when there is more depth and challenging topics to covered, and that time could be used there? Or maybe the text resources just organize information differently than our lesson plans. All good reasons to take a peek at where our students are at before we begin.
Regards, Barry
Hi Deborah:
I believe pretesting can guide the teacher to examine alternative methods to deliver the course content (course goals, objectives, outcomes)based on student performance.
Regards, Barry
In the clinical setting, pretests allow the instructor to know the pre-existing knowledge base (from the classroom) before sending the students out on the unit. There is a narrowed vocabulary base to be used in focused clinical areas. My current area is specific rather than general which allows me to use less general terms (although some general terms are necessary). It allows the students to narrow the task of vocabulary, critical thinking, and practicum to the clinical setting in which we practice, as opposed to, the general, broad sense in which they previously have been practicing in the classroom. I particularly like using case studies as pretests in addition to vocabulary pretests. It gets them into a deeper critical thinking process. I can choose case studies that are related to the area of patient care that we are practicing so that the vocabulary that is used in the case study are, again, focused rather than general.
It is impossible to know what kind of students you will be getting or what learning style they have. By giving them a pretest, you as an instructor will be able to see the needs of your students so you can better teach.
They can help you better understand where you need to start in your courses. Often times we receive a textbook and assume that Chapter 1 is where we logically should start. However, in reality it may be Chapter 3 or there may need to be an introduction to the subject matter.
Bobbi Bricker
Pretests help you to know what knowledge your students are coming into the class with, what areas they may be lacking in, and what percent of the class has the same knowledge base. This helps to plan lessons because you can adjust the level to the specific class. It is important not to actually change the content outside of the goals and objectives for the class. This would only create additional problems for the students if they move on without sufficient prerequisite information for the next class.
It is important to know your students and their learning styles as well to help them maximize the learning in the course. If you find most of your class are tactile learners then you might plan differently than if most of class are visual learners.
Dera Burt
Hi Karine:
Well said. We want to our student to do their best. Here's a perfect way to predetermine where their knowledge level is so that we can amplify and augment what has preceded the current course. The more I know about my students, the better I'll be able to modify my delivery to arrive at a "best fit" as much as possible.
Regards, Barry
Hi Dale:
Great. I'm glad you've fopund some practical applications from the course.
Pretesting does allow an instructor to get a view of where their students are generally. A pre-test doesn't have to assess everything in the course. If it's done at the beginning of a course, my suggestion is to choose the top 20-30 objectives for a course, and from those objectives, make up about 20-25 questions. It's not perfect but it'll give the instructor an idea where students are going to need more work, emphasis, attention, or focus.
This same approach can be done for monthly or weekly course work, just on a smaller scale.
Regards, Barry
It introduces students to the course, can serves as a baseline for discussion about the course and also legimitizes the assessment process.
My last class had a failure rate of 40%. i was devastated. I knew this was my responsibility, not the students. I had failed somewhere. I am excited about the pretest idea and others I have learned here.
Hi Timothy:
Course objectives are a form of pretesting - that is, they describe to a student what they should learn. But the evaluation of what they know about it at beginning is quite subjective and unmeasured (except in the mind of the student). Therefore, by pretesting, both the student and teacher get a perspective about where the level of fore knowledge on the topic exists.
Also, based on test results, the teacher can modify, "tweak", or consider alterations to their lesson plans knowing student may need more attention in certain areas more than others.
Regards, Barry
Hi Susan:
Right. I think students like pretesting because usually there is no grade for it, but they get to see what is coming up in the course or lesson, and some may even begin to prepare for more difficult sections they think they might have difficulty with.
Regards, Barry
