Kenny,
Pretests help plan. In this case, what should be relied cannot. So pretesting helps resolve any mystery.
Barry Westling
Russell,
As true as this sentiment may be it does force the teacher to recognize the challenges that lie before them. I would prefer to know what it is I have to do than to have it unexpectedly appear mid stream in the teaching session.
Barry Westling
Suzanna,
Right - they help the instructor plan so that all available time is used to the maximum.
Barry Westling
Charmelia,
For me, I think pretesting helps the teacher in planning their classes, highlighting what needs more (or less) emphasis, and creating a course of study.
Barry Westling
When I have a class that an adjunct previously had, I always give a pretest. While we have a curriculum in place, adjuncts do not always follow it as they should, so I like to pretest to get a feel for what they know before diving into the new material.
Pretests are very good planning tools for the instructor, but I must say they can also prove to disheartening as well. Seeing students enter a program or class poorly prepared leaves the instructor with a preset degree of disappointment knowing time has to be spent on remediation.
Pretests will allow the instructor to pinpoint knowledge baseline so that the instructional content can be adjusted to accomodate any learning opportunities or advancement
Pretests are a great tool to assist students in being prepared for exams. They are an assessment of what areas students need to brush up on.
Pretests are a great tool to assist students in being prepared for exams. They are an assessment of what areas students need to brush up on.
Pretests are a great tool to assist students in being prepared for exams. They are an assessment of what areas students need to brush up on.
It gives you the ability to assess the students preexisting knowledge of the topics that need to be understood before starting to topics in the course.
Hi Amanda,
Yes, and sometimes, just an overview is needed. However, I've had classes where there was such diversity among knowledge level, I had to pretest several times to find the high, average and low achievers so that I could work in groups in order to get the needed material across.
Barry Westling
Giving students a basic knowledge pretest of the course content will definitely give you an overview of how to deliver the information.
Hi Robert,
Perfect use of a pretest. I'm sure there will be classes that generally are at a suitble level, and others that are at either a higher or lower level. A good instructor will adjust to meet their students where they are, and bring them to where they need to be. A pretest can an instructor choose where and how much.
Barry Westling
Since I teach an introduction to thelectrical trades course that includes math and physics, it helps to know the math level that my class is at. Some of my students have had little or no experience with advanced math disciplines. It helps me to approach the math on a more practical level so that it will make sense to them.
Hi Joel,
Good use for a pretest. In many cases the student is placed in the class without the opportunity or access to remedial classes, so it makes the teacher have to work a bit harder for these students to grasp the material.
Barry Westling
Hi Jeannette,
Of course, that works the other way too. That is, you can determine where not to spend as much (or any) time if students are generally apt in a specific content area already.
Barry Westling
If a student's comprehension is below what the standard is for the class, an assessment will help determine if that student should take a more basic class prior to entering into a more advanced class
I believe pre-test will help me in spending more time on areas where students need more understanding to the subject.
Hi James,
Great! It sounds like you're getting a realistic sense about where your students level of prior knowledge is each time you begin a class.
Barry Westling
