I have found this helps reinforce concepts, ideas, or skills, and provides a greater degree of confidence in students.
You can have students complete a project such as a marketing or business plan. This can be an individual or a group project.
Hi - Thanks for your post to the forum. Using current technology events in the classroom teaches your students the importance of staying current when they enter the workplace. Best wishes! Susan
I require that each week students find a news article on any new developments in the computer world and write a short report or summary on it and to explain how relevant the content of their report is to the class's objectives, this really helps with class discussions too.
I also give 3 papers during the quarter, the subject of the papers are chosen by the students and they must relate to their chosen majors and reflect on new technologies involving computer usage in their chosen fields, this gives me a better picture of how they are grasping why Computer Information Systems is affecting society as a whole. Upon evaluating their reports and paper's I get a better sense of what specific topics they might be weak on and what to lay emphasis on in class.
I like to use graded discussions on opened ended questions on the topic at hand.
I use a grading system that requires every student to make at least one comment on the question that shows insight, understanding of the issues and furthers the ongoing conversation of the discussion.
What I have found is that if you require a student to make one such comment, they'll usually make 4 or 5.
This can be hard to grade in a large class, but it does get the class involved and is a very good way to assess the general level of understanding in the classroom and ensure that you are getting your point across to them .
In a Teaching Seminar course that I taught in the past, by the end of the course, each student would teach their peers a lesson in technology using the computer. On the first day of class, I had the students' brainstorm things that they thought were important to include on a Rubric to be evaluated on by their own peers. The next class I would pass out the Rubric and we would discuss and add more items or perhaps remove some after they had time to think or research more items for the Rubric. This really got them involved about teaching the lesson. After one student graduated, she applied for a job and one of the qualifications for the position was if she could teach a group of co-workers a technology lesson. I was very happy to hear that the class was very useful and she got the job too. I also presented each student at an end-of-year assembly at the college with a Certificate for successfully teaching a Technology Lesson.
Hi Scott- Thanks for your post to the forum. You make a good point - as career college instructors we must always keep in mind that we are preparing our students for their future work in the field. Best wishes- Susan
I am utilizing more team development and project based assessments to prepare students for the workplace. Sometimes the traditional methods of assessments are only useful for pursuing more schooling and not necessarily for the world of work.
We use skill based practicals to evaluate the comprehension of the material covered.
I use portfolio semester projects along with case studies. Seems to work real well.
I think class participation is important. I teach online and we utilize a lot of discussion boards for participation and discussion.
One way that I use to assess students is for students to draft documents in the field that a working professional might create. For example, I have a scavenger hunt in one of the legal research classes that I teach where students look for certain information.
A pop quiz or hands on practical demo of a recipe or procedure is a great way to see is culinary students can think on their feet. Work in real world situations and apply problem solving techniques.
I have a questions for you Gilbert, if you don't mind. What subject are you teaching? Have you ever tried this without a Senior Mentor?
Hi Gilbert - I am very impressed with the problem solving exercise that you describe. It clearly gets your students involved and is a process that they will undoubtedly encounter in the work-place - excellent! Susan
Hi, Susan,
We have had a lot of success teaching students how to use an institutional decision-making process with using a practical problem-solving exercise. We begin by giving the students a PowerPoint-supported lecture outlining the steps in the process and focusing on the first steps, which are intended to be completed in more of a group fashion. We then go into the practical exercise mode and present the students with a fictional scenario and pose an issue to them; the students are required, as a single group, to analyze the situation and determine specifically what the problem is. We then return to the PowerPoint-supported lecture mode and cover the remaining steps in the process, which are intended to be done in smaller groups. The class then goes back to the practical exercise mode. The students are broken down into small groups and asked to determine the best method for solving the problem they had identified in the first practical exercise session. The student groups determine what they believe the solution to be and each group then has to present their solution to an experienced "Senior Mentor" in front of the entire class. The Senior Mentor and faculty then critique the solution and offer suggestions and comments. In addition, each student in the group is asked for his or her comments and then the students in the other groups are asked if they have anything to add or would develop further. While the potential exists for student embarassment, the Senior Mentor is very effective at explaining the importance of the exercise and the importance of student participation. End-of-course student critiques are almost always very favorable of this portion of the curriculum.
Participation, practical work, group work, presentation, relationship to outside of school interaction, etc.
By group work, by writing papers, by group discussions, by question/answer sessions
A skilled based quiz that will be ungraded and given back to the student as a study guide or reference. My students have to work with a wide varity of hand tools, measuring equipment, and machinery. Giving my students a hands on quiz lets me see how comfortable they are using certain tools and lets them address any concerns they may have about their progress.
Hi Joanna - Usually I have used the term "pre-test" to describe having students survey what they already know at the start of a course. Best wishes - Susan
