Hi Greg- Welcome to ED 103! I agree - if your students know that they will be tested on certain tasks they are more likely to concentrate on learning the necessary skills. Best wishes for continued success in your teaching career! Susan
I use Skill Application Testing in in lab tasks and lab practical tests. With this method I can assess the students' ability on a task. The student can build knowledge, and confidence from performing the tasks correctly. Since the students can expect to be tested thsy generally have more of a stake in their learning.
As with some of the posts, skill application is the goal. I'm after with the students. This is the "hands on" in their class.
Hi Fred-Because you already do such a great job at skill testing, the softskills testing is usually not a major problem. Best - Susan
Yes and no. It depends on the class. In electrical class, yes, the students must show me that they know how to perform the various tests needed to diagnose & repair electrical problems. In A/C class, however, the hands on stuff is really easy. Students must show me, by a multiple choice test, what they know about the servicing & diagnosis of A/C...and a written test covers so much more than a hands on test can-and in less time. We still do hands on work, but not any testing.
Hi James - Skills testing is ideal especially when you add the challenge of having to use different tools/approaches to solve problems. Best wishes for continued success in your teaching career! Susan
Yes I use the skill application Testing. For one the students like the challenge.I also can see how they perform in a real word situations.When I do this I give a challenge that makes them used a few Different tools to solve the problem.
Hi John - Welcome to ED 103! What you describe is indeed a problem with kinesthetic laerners. have you got any tricks to getting them to embrace the manuals? best wishes - Susan
yes we use this testing to make sure students are comprehending the course materials.
The type of training that we provide our students it is very important that we are able to assess the ability of the student to be able to understand the importance of reading manuals and be able to transfer that knowledge to a practical understanding of doing the job. In this day and age a technician must be able to comprehend what the student finds in the manual and be able to take that knowledge and be able to repair the vehicle. I found that most students that I deal with are of the kinesthetic learner style, the trick is to get that style to understand in additional way of learning that will definitely benefit them in our line of work.
Hi Steve - Often students' performance on different assessments are a relection of their learning style. So for example, a student who performs better in lab/shop assessments rather than written assessments may be a kinesthetic learner. Best Wishes - Susan
In BMW it is used often since we need to be sure the student's can perform certain functions in a shop environment. They receive a credentail from BMW with our signature on it which means we have observed them completing these tasks in a timely manner.If they fail at their job it is a direct reflection on us and the program. By having them do the same task as they will need to do in the shop we can help them corrct their mistakes and build their confidence when they perform it properly.
i think we have the best of both worlds. we have hands on assesment and written test. it's a toss up on which is better. i have many students ace the hands on but do poorly on the written and visa versa. i know both are important. i try to explain to the students the value of both.
I have used used numerous times during a course, especially in the culinary field. All skill tests done in the classroom are definitely applied in our industry. There is no way getting around it.
Hi Adam - for some disciplines the "hands-on" assessment is the way to go. Do your students have to learn any customer service skills in addition to their mechanical knowledge? Best wishes - Susan
Yes we do. The tests we use are the hands on type. We put a problem in the vehicle to simulate a customer concern & the student has to diagnose the problem & tell us what's wrong with the vehicle.
Hi Bill - Welcome to ED 103! What you describe is skills application testing at it's finest - terrific!! Best wishes - Susan
yes we do, we use a hands on shop test thst shows the students knowledge to degree a camshaft in a engine. this is done the last day of the phase. class, and they must do this without any notes or help sheets ,so we know they understand the principles involving this requirement . it can not be cheated at or done correctly without them knowing all the required info. by themselves.
In my class I use skill applcation test to measure my students skill level in cooking.
Yes, It helps me in preparation for my lectures and labs set ups if I know where the class as a whole stands and it also helps me identify the students that I may need to do a little more one on one with.
