Hello, and welcome to the presentation. Please feel free to ask me questions or add your comments. If you have a favorite Classroom Assessment Technique, I would love to hear about it. Thank you, Cheryl
I find that this presentation to be a great resource and description of CATs. I really like how you mentioned that CATs are ungraded. Students may be more apt to express themselves more freely and creatively when they know they are not being graded per say when replying to CATs. I think that CATs are instructor directed to a certain point, because the teacher has to post the original CATs and answer student questions and reply to student responses. However, I also think it canbe student-directed as well because they can lead the actual discussion with what they know or by asking other questions. Good work on this presentation!
Thanks, Kristen! I am glad you enjoyed the presentation. I agree with you that students feel less apprehension knowing that CATs are ungraded. When they are anonymous as well, the students truly feel that they can express their true feelings.
First, I LOVED your title - very creative! I like the idea of using surveys to assess prior knowledge. This can be extremely helpful to identify the students who may need more help early on. I will definitely use this method in my class… thanks for the idea!
You're very welcome, Andrea! It's great to be able to share ideas here. You're right; identifying those who may need help early on will help them from falling behind.
What strategies do you employ to get students to actively participate in ungraded activities? And, more specifically, do you find any challenges with the students that need to participate choosing not to... and the students who don't need the extra resources are the ones that take advantage of the opportunities?
Great questions, Jean. As an instructor, I often think of the phrase, "You can lead a horse to water, but you cannot make them drink." I can't make a student participate, but I do try to encourage participation in the CATs.
I have three strategies for increasing the chance of participation. I make the CATs as simple as possible. For example, if I post a survey or poll, I make sure to include a hyperlink that will take them directly to a short poll. I also try to communicate my interest in their comprehension and explain how the CAT will help me help them. For some, this works. If I see that participation is lacking in a particular CAT, I will include a discussion comment that hypes it up a bit to generate more interest. I just did that last week. I posted a new comment on an existing poll and included the present results, using the title, "Let Your Voice Be Heard!" By showing them the standings on a controversial topic, it encouraged others to share their opinions, especially those whose opinions were not in the majority.
If the CATs are not anonymous and I see that a student who needs extra resources isn't involved, I will gently direct them to the activity in a reply to a posting. Sometimes it works; sometimes it doesn't. That challenge might be exactly why I love teaching!
7 Comments
Hello, and welcome to the presentation. Please feel free to ask me questions or add your comments. If you have a favorite Classroom Assessment Technique, I would love to hear about it.
Thank you,
Cheryl
I find that this presentation to be a great resource and description of CATs. I really like how you mentioned that CATs are ungraded. Students may be more apt to express themselves more freely and creatively when they know they are not being graded per say when replying to CATs. I think that CATs are instructor directed to a certain point, because the teacher has to post the original CATs and answer student questions and reply to student responses. However, I also think it canbe student-directed as well because they can lead the actual discussion with what they know or by asking other questions. Good work on this presentation!
Thanks, Kristen! I am glad you enjoyed the presentation. I agree with you that students feel less apprehension knowing that CATs are ungraded. When they are anonymous as well, the students truly feel that they can express their true feelings.
Cheryl
Cheryl,
First, I LOVED your title - very creative! I like the idea of using surveys to assess prior knowledge. This can be extremely helpful to identify the students who may need more help early on. I will definitely use this method in my class… thanks for the idea!
Andrea
You're very welcome, Andrea! It's great to be able to share ideas here. You're right; identifying those who may need help early on will help them from falling behind.
Cheryl
What strategies do you employ to get students to actively participate in ungraded activities? And, more specifically, do you find any challenges with the students that need to participate choosing not to... and the students who don't need the extra resources are the ones that take advantage of the opportunities?
Great questions, Jean. As an instructor, I often think of the phrase, "You can lead a horse to water, but you cannot make them drink." I can't make a student participate, but I do try to encourage participation in the CATs.
I have three strategies for increasing the chance of participation. I make the CATs as simple as possible. For example, if I post a survey or poll, I make sure to include a hyperlink that will take them directly to a short poll. I also try to communicate my interest in their comprehension and explain how the CAT will help me help them. For some, this works. If I see that participation is lacking in a particular CAT, I will include a discussion comment that hypes it up a bit to generate more interest. I just did that last week. I posted a new comment on an existing poll and included the present results, using the title, "Let Your Voice Be Heard!" By showing them the standings on a controversial topic, it encouraged others to share their opinions, especially those whose opinions were not in the majority.
If the CATs are not anonymous and I see that a student who needs extra resources isn't involved, I will gently direct them to the activity in a reply to a posting. Sometimes it works; sometimes it doesn't. That challenge might be exactly why I love teaching!