I also have different games to play in class which gets the students involved. They often realize they know so much more than they thought they did.
Carol, the more you can help students with how to recall the information and provide assistance with associating the information with real-world situations the better your students will be able to use these techniques during testing.
James Jackson
I like your idea for reviewing materials in the class. I think I will try this method. When I am summarizing the materials for the class at the end of the day, I ask each student to recall one important idea that came out of the lecture today and then when the student says a topic, I might ask more questions about that topic or say "great concept what rationale applies to this" to stimulate the thought process and more ideas from the students. Asking why is very important for the student to retain the knowledge and hopefully recall it during a test.
Christine, assessments can be used to support the learning outcomes and help students build confidense if used correctly. I like your approach.
James Jackson
shannon, there are many ways in which assessment tools can be used to support the learning process versus having students fear the actual activity. I like your positive approach.
James Jackson
Sandra, you made a great connection here. Have the practice what they will expect in the actual activity. Afterall is that not our focus on career college anyway?
James Jackson
many students come into school with a build in level of anxiety of testing, even hinting at a quiz as discipline is an unprofessional weilding of power and only going to lead to a breach of trust between you and the student or class as a whole. It is our job it prepare them for the testing process by covering the material throughly, reviewing clearly adn reassuring them that nothing it beyond thier ability if they paid attention in class.
Many people are apprehensive test takers, Me being one of them. If a quiz or a test is being used as a threat or discipline control technique many students may not do well. maybe try using it as a positive instead and dropping the lowest quiz score.
Most students have fear associated with tests and quizzes, so one other way of getting over that fear is actually develop exercises or activities that will go along the lines of what will be expected from them in the actual tests and quizzes. They get acquainted with the wording, and get to experience testing techniques with the instructor beforehand
Hello, Working with adults I do not use games. The activities I use are board work, group collaboration, and vocabulary study. I find that the more familiar students are to the various meaning of the math "buzz" words very much help them to not only know for sure what the problem is asking, but also how to solve it.
charles, what type of games or activities do you use to assist students in learning how to associate key terms to the various operators they will need when solving word problems that require a mathematical solution?
James Jackson
rachell, what techniques do you use to help lesson the anxieties of test taking?
James Jackson
Grisel , great example of the three T's: Tell them what your going to teach them, Teach them, Tell them again what you told them. Tell, Teach, Tell provides a minimal level of repetition that enhances learning.
James Jackson
I have students that know the basic information well, but when asked word problem math questions they don't know how to answer "out of the box" We discuss buzz words that really tell them what operation to use, but they don't remember and are afraid.
That is so true, most students are fearful about school due to knowing that they will have to take some sort of assessment during and after class.
Before lecturing, I provide my students with an outline of key points they will need to know for the quiz, so as I lecture on the course material, they know what information they will have to focus on. Before each quiz students are paired up and allowed to pick any topic within the outline and discuss and present to the class. The non presenting students are encouraged to ask questions. I find this method to be useful because It allows for a clear and concise understanding of what the student is responsible to know before receiving the information, and not only right before a quiz/exam, therefore reducing test anxiety.
Test anxiety is very common with students. It is aalways a primary goal in my classroom to make students feel more at ease with the assessment process. I therefore use many types of assessment techniques such as presentations, case analysis etc..
I do not use quizzes as a threat
It is demotivational
Most students fear xams enough as it is - to add the additional fear of punishment takes away the entire reason for exams - which is to assess their learning so we as instructors can work with them and make them successfull
Most students fear xams enough as it is - to add the additional fear of punishment takes away the entire reason for exams - which is to assess their learning so we as instructors can work with them and make them successfull
remonica, test taking is also a skill that can be trained but there are not many programs that go into detail about such techniques. Many programs take an entire course to focus on presentation skills but we just assume that all students know how to take a test. Anyone reading this thread, please share any training you provide to assist students with test taking and any results you can share.
James Jackson
