A pre-test is a great tool to evaluate the current class and to get an idea of where to start from. While there will be a variety of pre-knowledge regarding the subject you a teaching. A pre-test can help you to gauge where everyone in the class is, before you begin. You may find that you have a class that is lacking in an area where you would normally assume that they have a grasp of. This will help you to adjust your lesson plans to accomodate your current class.
Stella,
Having students present before you do is a great idea. Like course objectives, a pretest is just a way to get of sense about how much students have already mastered the key concepts. For instance, say there were 10 primary objectives and through pretesting, an instructor learns the students have previously mastered 8 of the 10. That would provide an opportunity to spend more time on the remaining 8 topics (this is just an example for illustration).
Barry Westling
A pretest will help me to asses the background the students have in preparation for the learning the new class content, it also gives me an indication of how much the students are prepared for the course. The effort made by the student to read course material prior to the class provides a good background for understanding the concepts and learning new skills. I have also assigned students to present on a topic before I the class. Works very well with a pharmacology class that I teach.
Martin,
I started using pretesting about 40 years ago, and although the process and format has been modified, I basically do what I have always done. Every time reinforces the benefits to me in taking a little extra time to gain some insight into prior learning levels of my classes.
Barry Westling
Aaron,
Great. Pretesting is just another among many tools that we know can benefit both instructor and student.
Barry Westling
I have always used pretests. Its a good way to gauge where the students are in content area knowledge.
This practice definately works. It helps the advanced students better their skills through repetition and also helps brign the rest of the class up to speed.
Seth,
Sometimes students will benefit from a pretest, as in "previews of coming attractions". Of course, the greatest benefit is to the instructor who gains knowledge about the general level of prior student knowledge and/or performance.
Barry Westling
It will help gain an understanding of the students learning capacity and knowledge base for a subject.
Ed,
My basic premise is two fold. One is to get a sense of prior learning, and the other is to tweak my instructional plan to more closely match what students will need to successfully complete the class. I begin with course objectives and try to identify what level of mastery a student would need to begin advancing their knowledge. Most course objectives inherently include multiple sub categories of topics, and I'll select (or create) questions from these topics to sample their level of performance. In general if 50% of the class fails to correctly answer a question, I use that to (partially) base my need to provide either review or discussion, so that when I want to begin providing new information, the foundation will have been laid.
Barry Westling
Darrell,
This sounds great! The ability to quantify prior learning as you describe takes pretesting up a notch in effectiveness and utilization by you and or your instructional team.
Barry Westling
I really like the idea of framing the pretest as a survey. What type of material is good to put on a pretest?
Yes, with a Pretest, this gives my student the opportunity to get an understanding of what information will be covered by the Lecture and where they, the students fall's into the knowledge base, what their strengths and weakness's are.
As an Elective Instructor, students who attain a 70 or better on a Pretest show me that they have retained information from their previous classes. For those students who score a 50 or less on a Pretest allows me the insight as to who will need extra attention and guidance.
Acie,
It's true, some students freeze up when they hear the word "test".
Barry Westling
Yes, I never assign a grade for pretest. I also try to put the students at ease before the pretest also. Thanks for the feedback.
Acie,
I think anonymous pretests are fine because the main benefit is for the instructor to learn, in general, what areas the class a whole is strong or weak in coming into the class, and as a planning tool to assist the instructor in tweaking the game plan to best suit the desired outcomes. Also, I don't assign a grade to the tests I give so students feel more comfortable giving their best try, knowing it won't affect their grade.
Barry Westling
In my experience I have found that pretest help me to give the students better instruction because I can see where they stand in a particular subject. Sometimes I teach computer code classes and pretesting really helps here because I can plan the class content to highlight any problem areas right away. I find the students do not like to be given pretest so I make them anonymous.
Matthew,
I don't think it's always necessary to pretest. For me, it's mainly when I have no idea what preparation or prior learning the class has received. In that setting, it's a great planning tool for me.
Barry Westling
PREPARE THE STUDENTS ALOT BETTER
jason,
The biggest use I find with pretesting is assistance with my planning for minor adjustments in the curriculum in order to better meet a specific student cohorts needs.
Barry Westling
