Where I have a question is when do you check the answers for the pretest? We were using them more to check if they had prepared by reading class material ahead of time and this just served to raise their anxiety level and I didn't feel like I had the time to assess the information to guide my lecture as the class time had started for that day. Should they be used more at the beginning of a term and then again at the end of the term to determine what was learned?
Jonathan,
When I think of a pre-test, it is most in line with the latter portion of your post. Ideally, pretesting should provide the instructor with knowledge about their students prior learning, and help decide what areas of the curriculum need more (or less) emphasis. If you have control over what pretesting avenues are available, I think you have a good idea how to approach it, to the benefit of your students.
Barry Westling
several for-profit institutions require pre- and post-tests; the results are used by the institutions for their own purposes, not for the professor's curriculum planning. This seems bureaucratic and irrelevant to students. Instructors who are concerned with continuing employment will tend to teach to the test.
In my subject (marketing), I find such tests counterproductive as they tend to concentrate on minutia and not marketing concepts.
A truly useful pre-test would be practical, and be used by the professor to determine where his/her students are scholastically.
When I teach "master's level" adult students, I frequently find that they neither know how to do research nor write very well. I use the first writing assignment as a pre-test, and when I grade it, I determine where the class is and what it needs. Often, I present the marketing concepts broadly (compromising the minutia which they won't remember anyway) and then spend more time on "remedial writing" and how to do research (i.e., let the facts speak).
Marie,
Right. And when we know where the emphasis needs to be, we can be more effective in getting our point across while not using valuable time on other matters.
Barry Westling
A pre-test can quickly elicit a baseline of knowledge. Whether the pre-test contains, terminology, concepts, or theories to be discussed the results will provide a comprehensive overview of what is familiar to the students. thanks, marie
Greg,
Perfect! It really makes sense, whenever we can, to get a read on where our students are in advance of beginning a class in order to avoid spending time on unneeded topics, while allowing more time on potentially more difficult or unfamilar topics.
Barry Westling
Samuel,
Great. You are helping your students by preparing them to learn. I find this activity takes little time but has great merit in relation to the benefit students receive as a result.
Barry Westling
I think this is a very good idea. I have discovered that in one class I teach (basic introduction to computers) that all the young students were not the savvy computer knowledgeable people I thought they would be. Beyond thumbing keys on phones, reading Facebook, and surfing the Internet, there are few that have a knowledge base to meet the requirements of the course. I have been inspired to use a pre-test as a tool to help me plan how to approach the course. I think this should help to identify those areas that need strengthening in my student's skill set.
Same as in my school, it is five weeks long. I always ask my students to read ahead of the class and give them pretests at the begining of each topic to access thier knowledge base and test them again at the end end of the topic.
Derrick,
Right! And the more we know, the better we are able to add, amplify, or modify our instruction to meet the student needs.
Barry Westling
It can help with seeing with information the students already know about the topic
Aldorey,
Sounds great! This "previewing" is great way to start a class, and also provides the framework for your lesson. I like this format!
Barry Westling
John,
Exactly! This is a great tool for the teacher to modify their game plan for a course or individual lesson.
Barry Westling
Lisa,
Great! We have used "clickers", where students are able to respond anonymously and the culmulative results are displayed on a screen (percentage of students who chose "A", "B", "C", or "D"). This is a great version of pretesting that shows where students are at while at the same time providing an instructional spin to the activity.
Barry Westling
Vicki,
There is no "right way" to do pretesting, and I would say that even verbal testing would assist an instructor get a feel for where their students are at. In the end, that is the result that pretesting provides.
Barry Westling
I have used pretest in my class and it works very well. Before the class lecture pretest is given to student with ten questions about the our topic and then I start discussing my learning objectives then discuss the pretest in class why is is this anwer is correct not the other ones. So by using this tool it will help you diagnose the student knowledge on the topic and focus on the toic that student didn't do well. It's an effective assessment tool to know where the student at and where the instructor needs to focus on the lesson.
a pretest can determine the level of knowledge of the student...in this manner the instructor can develope a plan that will not be too advanced or too underdeveloped
I was given information from my Mentor Teacher on using pretests to help students recognize keep points and to guide them in note taking. She uses a short 10-20 question T/F test at the beginning of the topic that she gives to the student but does not collect. The students are then able to recognize key points as they are presented during lecture and they can see if their initial responses were correct or incorrect. I tried it and it especially helps those students that have difficulty determining what is important to know and remember and what is extra information to support these key points.
I have not done pretesting in written form and may consider doing so. I have incorporated a form of pretesting through discussion on the first day of classes that helps me to assess each students background knowledge and skills. It helps me to zero in on each students needs and course content delivery methods.
Norman,
Yeah, pretesting is a great tool, assists the instructor, and the ultimate beneficiary is better student, better prepared for their career choice.
Barry Westling
