CAT's can be useful to set everybody in a focused mind set when they enter the room and encourage participation.
A simple posed question on the board that represents a situation that allows the students to use a process to answer can stimulate focus and identify where their level of critical thinking is at.
Hi Gordon, Thanks for sharing some excellent ideas to utilize CATs! Best wishes for continued success in your teaching career.
Susan Polick
I really like that CATs assessment technique especially the minute testing. I can see that it would help the unresponsive person and show what the students felt was most imporatant and/or interesting to them that teaching session.
I would request the students at the end of a teaching session to write down and turn anomonously three things:
1. What was the most important thing they felt they learned today.
2. What was the most interesting thing they felt they learned today.
3. Write down one unanswered question they had today.
Then I would use that info to help stucture my lesson plan to be more interesting; and determine what teaching method made those particular points most interesting then and try to present other material in a similar fashion; and answer any questions that the the students were afraid to ask or were unasked.
I agree. I tend to give weekly pop quizzes and practice tests prior to an exam. The quizzes help me measure how well students grasp the material as well as lets me know how much time students spend studying.
I am able to relate to this, as this was introducted to me as a student learner. I now use this useful information to teach.
Hi Priscilla, Thanks for your post to the forum. We use student surveys also but find it difficult to get students to complete them. What is your experience with this? Thanks!!
Susan Polick
At our school we use End of Course suvey's so students can give us feedback. This is entered into a software where we track there feedback and use this to improve any processes needed.
Hi Jerry, Thanks for your post to the forum. The immediate feedback that you give your students is ideal!
Susan Polick
I have been using CATS for a long time, without calling them by any special name. I strongly believe that a person cannot learn math by passively sitting there and listening to me talk about it. The student must get their hands dirty doing problems, making mistakes, and correcting the mistakes in real-time. I give my students worksheets directly after the lecture and then work the room answering questions and ensuring the students are able to complete the problems. So, I guess I am a big believer in active learning, too!
I finally had a student complain about "Not another worksheet!". I will not give them up because I KNOW that this method helps the struggling student understand the material while I am present and able to correct any misunderstandings or incorrect processes.
Hi Bruce, Thanks for your post to the forum. I also face the multi-generational classroom often and it is indeed challenging! Best wishes for continued success in your teaching career.
Susan Polick
One form of classroom assessment technique (CAT) that should be used more often in the classroom is “background knowledge--[that is] assessing student prior to learning.†The benefit of this concept is that (as the economy changes) I have found that more adult learners are entering the classroom. And as a result, we are confronted with teaching students in their teens including those in their thirties and forties, and (as I have) even in their sixties. How do we, as educators, create a balance between the adult learners, who are bring a wealth of “knowledge and experience†into the classroom, and the young adult who has very little to share experience wise.
Consequently, I have found that this “background knowledge†assessment can prove to be invaluable/beneficial by allowing the faculty to adjust the course accordingly and point students in the “right†direction for additional assistance. This will allow the younger students to overcome any weakness in the course materials. Conversely, the older students can provide additional clarification and expertise in their existing skills or knowledge, which can help the younger students understand the course content/materials from a “first hand†expert. Nonetheless, one must be careful to ensure that (some) students may not be able to provide an accurate assessment of their expertise; that is, the assessment might be too low or high.
Before moving forward to a new concept in the same area of study, I usually stop and either give the students worksheets with questions or verbally ask questions that review the topic just discussed. This way I can see if the students grasped the topic before moving forward to the next. If they did not understand that topic, I know to review it briefly before moving forward.
The course that I teach is very good for using the CATs. There is always new techniques to learn and applications that go along with the material.
Hi Jamie, I'm glad you liked it - best wishes!
Susan Polick
having a CAT in the form of a review at the beginning of class could be a good start. it could involve writing some questions on the board from the lesson taught the day before for the class to answer.
I have already used a variety of these techniques in my classroom without realizing what they were called. For example, I have had numerous students who have stated, repeatedly, that they weren't learning anything in my class and that nothing they did learn would be helpful in their future careers. After hearing this feedback, I started weekly journal writing assignments that had students summarize a few topics that they learned about the previous week and discuss any questions that they had about the material. I learned from this discussion that these are called "minute papers".
I personally liked the minute paper idea! Then I will know who was listening and learning.
Hi Laurie, That will be an excellent strategy!
Susan Polick
I will be using CATs at the end of each lecture. Quizzes the next week will reflect CAT answers from the previous week so I can determine comprehension and develop new applications.
Hi Michael, In my experience, it is how well we use CATs and give feedback from them to our students. Otherwise they do view them as a waste of time.
Susan Polick
