Hi Wouter, I really encourage you to use CATs - they will give you so much feedback! Susan
Susan Polick
During my more theoretical portion of the curriculum, I typically do not introduce CAT's. Perhaps I should give it a whirl...It would be nice to see how the material is being absorbed and applied, and it would act as a thermostat for my own performance.
In the more practical, lab portion of the curriculum, I constantly assess their skills with the use of a rubric. It is both rewarding and surprising to compare such evaluations from the beginning of their lab work with those at the end. The progress is simply amazing!
Hi Kevin, I really encourage you to use CATs for your lab sessions. It will give you really useful and timely feedback. Susan
Susan Polick
At the end of each lecture session i usually close by asking questions in review of the days material, I think i could use a cat to actually evalute my lab sessions so as to not wait until the end of course exam to figure out someone wasnt getting the material.
Hi Shafi, Your prompt feedback to students on their quizzes and tests is excellent! Susan
Susan Polick
Hi Mark, Thanks for your post to the forum. Absolutely, using thhis anonymous approach to feedback can be very productive! Best wishes for continued success in your teaching career. Susan
Susan Polick
In my QMB and accounting classes, I do have a pretest and post test questions for the class and compare and contrast the learnings outcomes for the section. I share the results for these tests in the class instantly and or after the class and or between the breaks. Mosts of my tests are computerized and the results are instantly viewed by the students.
The technique I thought would be most useful for me is the "one-minute essay" at the end of class summarizing what they had learned. Someone may confide in secret that they didn't understand the material, rather than admit it out loud.
Incorporating classroom assessment techniques (CATs) into your teaching can be used to give feedback to your students. This is a basic way to communicate with students, as it tells the instructor how the student’s impression has an impact on his or her learning. Feedback is often stated to be the most critical part of basic communication, as it lets the sender (instructor) knows if the message has been received.
-Tracy
Hi Michael, Thanks for your post to the forum. I also rely on CATs to give me important feedback in a timely manner. Best wishes for continued success in your teaching career. Susan
Susan Polick
Its helps you to identify the "muddy" points as they come along instead of waiting until the end where the student is overwhelmed.
I use CATs every course cycle I have found it provides imediate feedback to the student on how well they retained the material.
Hi Marie, Thanks for your post to the forum. Good technique to get participation! Best wishes for continued success in your teaching career. Susan
Susan Polick
In the begining of each week I hand out a review questionaire pertaining to the end of the week exam. I have my students look for the answers and the day before the exam we have a group discussion where we discuss the answers that were found and again this is another method I use to have all students participate and they seem to enjoy this.
I have not used CATs before. I am new to teaching. I look forward to incorporating this into my classes so I can get feedback for myself and my students.
Hi Cynthia, Thanks for your response to Brandon and for sharing the great link! Susan
Susan Polick
I wanted to add another link to my earlier response:
The link provided in the module on CATs provides some good examples:
http://www.ntlf.com/html/lib/bib/assess.htm
Hi Brandon,
I teach critical thinking, argument/persuasion, and research skills.
I use CATs to assess prior knowledge before presenting a concept and then, at the end of class to test understanding after lectures or discussions to help students understand what they have learned but where the gaps are in their learning. These CATs only take a minute or two to conduct. Usually, I use minute papers, muddiest points, chain letters, or a more focused multiple choice (non graded) short quiz. I have also used group CATs to engage students in problem solving and skill building.
When teaching face to face, I might use several CATs a week, but for online classes (5 weeks in duration), I use a CAT at least once a week with a focus on the major learning outcomes for the week.
This is an excellent resource on CATs:
http://www.celt.iastate.edu/teaching/cat.html
The key is to know what you are testing for and then designing CATs that will do that, but they must be ungraded. Also, if they are anonymous, then students feel less hesitant if results are shared in the classroom.
Good luck!
Cynthia
Hello back Cynthia I'd like some more infomation on CATs and how you use them. I teach technical training and many times it uses problem solving. fill me in.
dogs are cool too.
Brandon
Hi Cynthia, Thanks for sharing some good ideas on using CATs ( and I did enjoy your giggle!) Best wishes for continued success in your teaching career. Susan
Susan Polick
