Get Your Students Hired
That help a lot, the instructor will be abletoknow the students background so they dont get overwelmed or frustrated.
Courtney,
Yes. And pretests don't have to be comprehensive necessarily, just sort of a "toe in the water" to test the pulse of class is often good enough.
Barry Westling
It can give you an idea of where the student is and give you some sort of idea where you should start teaching and how to teach them.
Ob,
Right. To plan accurately we need to have some idea of the students prior knowledge.
Barry Westling
Kevin,
This is a perfect opportunity, when we know little about students prior knowledge. I look at the course objectives, select between 15 to 20 questions that I'd expect these students to know when they were through with my class, and see how many are fairly clear on some of the material. Greater emphasis can be given in the class to needed instruction, and less emphasis to areas students are already familiar with. I also don't grade the test. Therefore, students are more willing to try their best if they know their performance won't affect their grade.
Barry Westling
Daniel,
My best results with pretesting came when I realized a lot of time (several days worth) was not needed because the students had previously mastered the material. On another occasion, assuming students had the material down, I learned they did not, so I was able to make an adjustment that ended up working out successfully for my students.
Barry Westling
A pretest can assist you with your instruction planning by assessing your students' strengths and weaknesses in the subject area or topic that you are planning to teach. The pretest responses can also help you to clarify your objectives for the class; thereby, assisting in your instructional planning.
Eddy,
I use pretests to help me plan what and where I want the emphsis to be in my class.
Barry Westling
By Eddy Mojena
A pretest helps me see the differences in students pass and present knowledge to help me how I will teach the class from start.
Salah,
You identified the main benefit to using pretests; assisting the instructor plan their lessons where students will learn the most in the least amount of time.
Barry Westling
the same thing happen to me because my class is advance and loaded with alot of subject material so i think when using pretest help me to note the weak point and focus on it more than the other material
Gail,
Yes, when I don't know much about the prior knowledge students possess is when I feel a pretest helps me the most. Barging ahead with assumptions about prior learning can result is some students being bored and others lost. I want to be able to reach the most students in the most effective way, and the pretest is one tool that can help in that way.
Barry Westling
Pretests give you a place to begin. You realize where each student is on the learning curve.I once gave a pretest to pregnant highschool girls to find out what they needed to know. I then realized that nobody knew anything and the students were better served when separated into trimesters of pregnancy because the third trimesters did not need to know how their bodies were going to change, they needed to know about labor expectations and to have a carseat ready to take the baby home.
Carl,
This sounds great. Pretesting can make for a better learning outcomes when used in creative ways, such as you practice.
Barry Westling
I use pretest to establish a baseline of knowledge for my classes. They are given references and the tests are open book. I grade the test and we collectively review. The pre-tests allows us to spend time on some of the more difficult material (some of which is on the pre-test).
Austin,
Right. And it helps planning for differences in where we think the emphasis should be versus where the actual emphasis needs to be.
Barry Westling
Kyle,
I don't always pretest, but reserve it for times when I have no knowledge at all about the students prior learning. These pretests don't have to be comprehensive or lengthy. I just choose some questions based on the course objectives. Students don't mind this activity when the know they won't be graded on it.
Barry Westling