Pretest are good tools to evaluate the basic skill levels of the students in a class. For example I have tought a purchasing class in which I had a former CPA as well as students with lower High School math skills. Without a prestest I wouldn't have known of the disparity in math skills. By giving the test I was able to tailor the class to keep the interests of all student and not lose the interest of others.
Paul,
Exactly! Pretesting doesn't have to long or comprehensive, even just a few questions can help provide needed information that can assist the instructor plan the areas more emphasis will be given to.
Barry Westling
A pretest can help the instructor gauge the level of understanding prior to the course. This will help guide the delivery of the agendas so the instructor can spend more time on topics that appear to present more challenges and less time where there appears to be understanding.
Tom,
Pretests can be used in an admission or enrollment purpose, or they can also be used at the beginning of a course to determine the prior learning of currently enrolled students taking a specific course. In this setting the instructor learns what areas the students may already have a good firm grasp on and therefore, won't have to spend as much instructor time, allowing more time for areas that may need more attention.
Barry Westling
The problem I have is my school won't let me use a pretest. I have one but they say it's too hard and will keep students from enrolling in the course. I believe the stdents should have a fair chance to assess their probability for success in this very technical course.
Nicole,
I suppose their are different approaches. For me, I look at the objectives I'm intending to cover and derive some key questions that correct answers would suggest the students already posses that knowledge. So if I gave twenty questions and nearly all the students answered the same three questions correctly, I might elect to spend less time on the objectives related to those three questions, allowing me to spend a bit more time on others topics.
Barry Westling
Pretests sound like a good start. Do the students fill them out honestly and accurately? Or do some students think they know more than what they really know?
Mike,
Yes, that is one good reason why some students tune out. Good instructors should be sensitive to this. And to this post, they can do things like pretesting to determine how much emphasis is needed on what topics.
Barry Westling
Liz,
I just don't want to spend unnecessary time if it's not needed. That doesn't mean their is no value in review or practice. But some material that supports the main topic my be very basic and not too much time needs to be spent on it if the whole class is already familiar with it.
Barry Westling
By knowing what levels your students are at, you will be able to better plan the content that needs to be emphasized in the course. It is easy to lose students interest if you are covering material that has already been taught to them several time before. Being able to remove parts that they already are familiar with will enable you to put in content that can elaborate on other subject matter.
Pretesting will allow the instructor to find out where their students are in regards to knowledge of the topic. Students often learn at different paces and by pretesting an instructor can evaluate which direction the instruction needs to go. It also shows what areas need to be focused on and how much they need to be focused on.
LeJean,
Great. This is exactly how we can use tools such as the pretest to assist our students use their time and our time for the maximum benefit.
Barry Westling
Pretests help me to understand their level of competence in a specific area of instructional content. For example, English - I use a Pretest to see the areas that need to be focused on at the beginning of the course. Then I am clear on what content needs to be focused on for clarity and accomplishment of the instructional material.
Marianne,
Yes, every class is unique. And every class has material that needs to be covered or mastered. When we know in advance where more emphasis may be needed, that helps us plan our lessons better.
Barry Westling
A pretest would help me by seeing what the strong points and weak point are with the students. Some thing need to be worked on more then others.
Ardiana,
Pretesting is a helpful tool, and instructors can use the activity a l,ot of different ways, basically to help them plan their instructional days.
Barry Westling
I believe is a good idea to pretest student before the instructor start with a course content, because it exposes the academic strength and the weakness of the students; Thus the instructor would know how to break down the content of the lectures.
Caleb,
I thought Math for Health Sciences for years. And math applications are abundant in my profession to the degree its professional topics are really just applied math principles. My observation is unless people use material they learn in a class (such as in high school or even grammar school), they won't have a daily, regular application to retain the principles and operations, so the information goes stagnant. I try to use every day examples whenever possible, that helps a little. But if I know for sure my students will absoultely have to know...XYZ before leaving my class, a pretest about XYZ can give me an overview about where to put emphasis.
Barry Westling
I teach most of the math/science type classes at my school. We do have a "pretest" type admission test to get into the program, but unfortunately in my situation I don't find this helpful. The students consistency score very low in the math required for the classes that I teach. Going into teaching each class I am well aware of this fact, however there is such a discrepancy between what they should know and what they do know I don't feel like I have enough time to teach them what they need to know.
It's not a problem of intelligence, it's just some math concepts that they have never learned before. I explain what I can, but it's really stuff that they should already know and use as a tool for my class, not what my class is on. I've toned down the math as much as I can in my courses, however there are certain topics that I am simply required to cover.
Christine,
This is another great reason to do pretesting. I always like to point out that pretesting doesn't have to be a comprehensive examination or activity. It could be just a few questions to determine what prior learning in a particular category might be useful.
Barry Westling
