Nadh,
they definitely can & you could potentially give a completion or participation type grade with this. Obviously you don't want to grade for content, but you could on the other things.
Ryan Meers, Ph.D.
Can pretests be used as in class assignment so that they are taken more seriously?
andrew,
this is a great way to see what's going on with the learning but doing so in a way that does not add pressure or punishment.
Ryan Meers, Ph.D.
I have begun to give weekly quiz's that do not count as points towards the final grade, which they grade themselves. We discuss the answers in class, from this they can really see where they stand with the information and ask questions or seek help with areas they are having difficulty with.
Best way to assess student learning needs is to provide them with either written or verbal expression
Jacob,
exactly right, the more often we can get a feel for where the students are, the greater chance we have of actually helping them.
Ryan Meers, Ph.D.
That is a tough question for me because currently I have a very small class that does not talk! I keep asking "open-ended" questions and they try the "yes" or "no" approach. Then they want to fall asleep!
I am not sure how vested these students are in this class and it is an Intro class. I try "hands-on". I have tried just giving them a short in-class assignment and they will do like 5 out of 15 of the questions.
One student keeps asking the same question over and over again. I must say there are only about 5 ways I can say "no I did not assign the questions at the end of the chapter yet--we will do them tomorrow"
Becasue of that class is why I chosse to do this module of learning. I am looking for direction. Thanks.
Pretest is a great tool. Also weekly quizzes are a great tool for check points. Even if there is no point value to their grade, we are able to check for understanding, and where I might need to revisit.
Latasha,
these are all definitely good things to explore & consider as we try to serve our students.
Ryan Meers, Ph.D.
Find out there learning style. See if the student can read and write in english. See if they are a visual learner and try other ways of getting to know your students
During the first class give a pretest, no grading involve to see where each student is in not only knowledge of class but learning and study skills.
nutisha,
yes, the pretest can be a great way to do a level set & know where the students are.
Ryan Meers, Ph.D.
I like to give quizzes before I lecture a chapter to see what the students actually learned from reading the night before.
Kimberly,
and then you can decide if you need to move on to new material or to take the information even further.
Ryan Meers, Ph.D.
I agree pretests are a great way. With teaching medical billing and coding, I'm not sure what they have covered with other instructors, so this helps me assess their learning needs.
Listen to them, pull them aside and talk to them
Adrienne ,
I think this is a great idea for the very reasons stated. How great for a student to be able to walk into any class "armed" with this information.
Dr. Ryan Meers
Instructors at our instituition typically recommend students take a learning style assessment prior to beginning instruction. In doing so, the student can discover if he/she learns by seeing, doing, hearing, or other means. This helps not only the student, but also the instructor because we can use multiple ways to teach a topic so that each student is able to grasp the topic.
What a great idea in trying to make sense about what is the most "important" information to remember, especially in an excellerated course!
Deginald,
this is a great strategy to assess where the students are & also to help them with retention as they are being exposed to material multiple times.
Dr. Ryan Meers
