I believe providing a short quiz at the end of the class is a great way of getting immediate feedback from the student regarding the information presented.
KH
Though the students typically do not like frequesnt CAT's it does offer them an opportunity to understand where they are progressing or not progressing
Hi Kelley,That is very much like the "Minute Paper" which is also very effective. Best wishes for continued success in your teaching career.
Susan Polick
We have implemented a short quiz in class called "What do you know". this allows up to identify individuals who may not have grasped the information being taught or maybe just isnt paying attention. We have seen a great deal of improvement since implementing this.
In our business classes, we frequently have students deliver presentations on what they have learned in class and then have peer review and feedback in addition to coming from the instructor.
When trying to bridge together new knowledge and putting it into practice, it is effective when you apply the information to their everyday work day or experiences they can relate to or instances when they can apply the new knowledge.
Hi Daniel, Thanks for your post to the forum. I also have found the Minute paper to be an excellent source of feedback for my lessons. Best wishes for continued success in your teaching career.
Susan Polick
My favorite type of CAT is the "minute paper". I find it to be an excellent way to get students to pay attention, concentrate and as an added bonus everyone gets immediate feedback. I put heavy emphasis on the fact that I'm looking for feedback in the students' own words and not simply repeating what was said.
Hi Steven, Thanks for your post to the forum. I agree that frequent assessment is essential to keep students on track and to give us the feedback we require. Best wishes for continued success in your teaching career.
Susan Polick
I believe frequent and unexpected “pop†quizzes keep students on their toes and focused on learning the material. Procrastination and cramming for tests that are spaced out throughout the semester is all too common and generally leads to very little retention of the information. As instructors it is our responsibility to guide our students on their journey through the information and facilitate their comprehension.
I think that I will use them on occasion as a learning break, after a particularly difficult theory is taught. I hope to be able to assess how well the information was recieved and assimilated.
Hi Mary, I'm glad that you will be trying CATs!
Susan Polick
I am really excited about learning this. I will make this part of my classroom teaching. I love the minute paper and the punctuated lectures. Sometimes I am teaching and can feel the attention of the class drifting and I haven't known what to do really. Now I feel as though I have a plan..
Mary
Hi Christopher, Thanks for sharing a good example of the benefits of pre-assessments! Best wishes for continued success in your teaching career.
Susan Polick
CATS informs you as the instructor how well you are delivering the content.
I like using the minute paper periodically to see what the students have learned and I have used pre-instruction assessment techniques to assess how much the students know about a topic before teaching it. For example, I will ask them to spend 10 minutes having the students write down everything they know about breathing. Then I can cover the parts they are lacking more.
Weekly short quizzes at the beginning of the class that goes over the major context discussed in previous classes helps students focus on the important areas. Results of the quizzes gives the instructor feedback on student content retention.
They can be given on a regular basis to evaluate the communication between students and instructors.
Hi Sarah, When students know that CATs will be part of the classroom routine, it also prompts them to pay attention.
Susan Polick
I love the idea of CATs as a way for instructors to get feedback on the understanding of the material. I personally really like the idea of having students summarize the last hour of class or the topic they most enjoyed learning about. I could also ask about which activity for the day they felt was most helpful to gauge learning styles.
