Pretests and Course Flow
In addition to using pretests to get an idea of where students are at on week 1 of a new class, I have also used pretests to aid in the curriculum flow of classes in a series.
For example, at the college I teach at we have a series of classes: Digital Audio Specs, Intro to Audio, Digital Audio Workstations I & II. The four classes are taken in that order, and deal with a continuous flow of related material. There was a curriculum flow issue from course to course, where students felt bored in some classes because they already new a big chunk of the material, and other classes where the students felt that the material was way over their head.
Each of us developed a week 1 pretest to assess each student's strengths and weaknesses; and the strengths and weaknesses of the class as a whole. Not only did this help us to choose review material wisely, it also set a clearly defined end goal for each class in the series.
Dennis,
I also have used this method. In fact, there should be a form of a "follow-up" (i.e. post test) to ensure that the sequence of learning has occurred within the course.
Tremayne Simpson
I also use the pretest to show the students at the end of the course to show them that, believe it or not they actually learned something.
I have to agree with you on pre-tests. It is important to understand where the students are within the subject so you can provide instruction that will not be boring to the students as a whole.
True, but reading the students as they arrive, will give you the sence of how they have preconceived your class. At this point you may be able to alter your opening statement to draw them in. Not always the knowlegde they have, but the knowlegde they want...
I agree with you Josh. I feel that the only way to get a real read on students ablity coming into a class is to have a formal evaluation. This allows for the instructor to gauge the preparedness of the cohort.
