I like how the presentation mentions meaningful feedback. The students who take the time to respond to the CATs are looking forward to what the instructor has to say about their thoughts. Also, students can tell when their thoughts and opinions matter to the instructor. CATs can also give the instructor an idea of the level of effectiveness of the utilized instructional methods. Good work!
Thank you Ted and Kristen. The Prezi design was a bit more complex than we have tried before, but it turned out well.
Kristen, thank you for the kind words. I agree that meaningful feedback from the instructor is very important. In fact, the CAT really cannot serve its purpose without instructor feedback. I try to make this a priority in my own classes.
Rick and I wanted to focus on the background and development of Classroom Assessment Techniques (CATs). It is so important to obtain a strong grasp over the "what" as well as the "how" before implementing CATs into the classroom.
Thank you both for taking the time to review and comment on our presentation. Let us know if you have any further questions.
Great job on the presentation Rick and Emily. It was great to see, in phase 1, the exact way in which you adapted the traditional classroom CATS into the online classroom. It seems vital to explain to the students what the purpose of the CATS are in order to gain their belief in their importance. The idea of follow up and feedback of the results at the end of each week for any and all CATS to close the loop is great. This will show your students another reason why they are important and gain their belief in them even more. Great work!
Thank you for this presentation. Being a new hire for online, this cleared up exactly what a CAT is and actually gave me many ideas on how to use them in the online classroom. As a former classroom teacher, I realized I implemented some of the same strategies in my first grade classroom on a daily basis.
I thank you for the examples that were actually given on how to actually word the different CATs. I also learned that it will be important to go back and close the discussion. Your presentation was very beneficial for me!
As a new online instructor, I found this video to be very informative. I find that my discussion questions get a little "played out" by day two or three. I tried adding a CAT the other day, and not only did it bring life to the discussion board, but it also reinforced the important points from the module that week. Thanks for the well researched and informative video.
Thanks for creating such a great resource. I appreciate the background information provided on the many options for assessing students in a formative way. This would be a great resource for new and "old" instructors alike!
I am glad Rick and I are meeting our goal with this presentation. We really wanted to inform those new to online education as to what a CAT is. But, we also wanted to give a clear description to those that already have experience in online education. It does take some trial and error to find those best practices with these strategies, but our hope was to provide some of the techniques that are flexible to meet the needs of a number of contents and classes.
Thank you all for the comments. I think that most of us have used formative assessments in the classroom at one point, but it has been interesting to see how these work in the online asynchronous classroom. I think david said it the best about how these CATs can liven up the discussion. That is one benefit, but the biggest is that the instructor is more aware of where the students are in learning the objectives of the class. This allows us to fine tune our teaching to where the greatest need is. I am glad to see all of the feedback here.
What wonderful ideas!! If you had to give advice for someone new to the online classroom, where would you recommend starting? What is a good first CATS?
Hi Jean. Thank you for the kind words! In my experience with CATs, the easiest ones to implement would be the One Minute Summary and the Muddiest Point. The One Minute Summary is simply having students restate what they have learned about the objectives during the week. Muddiest Point takes the alternative stance and asks students to state what is still unclear from the week. In both cases, this allows the instructor to get a quick check for understanding for all of the students in the class. Both of these CATs would work in any content area and during any week.
I would mimic Rick in his suggestions. One of the important things to keep in mind when creating and utilizing CATs, especially for the first time, is to keep things simple. One of the most common challenges I have seen thus far is in regards to over thinking this technique. It is not meant to be cumbersome for the teacher or the student. To highlight one of the key points that Rick mentions, CATs are meant to be a "quick check for understanding".
I like how your presentation gave such a thorough overview and background of CATs! It is a great explanation regarding why CATs should be used and how CATs translate to the online environment. Thanks for sharing the website as I have found some useful resources and ideas! The presentation also included many excellent ideas and examples of CATs! What a great resource! Do you either of you have a favorite CAT?
I tend to like the CATs that can be used universally such as KWLs, Muddiest Point, or One Minute Summaries. I also use a lot of web sites or videos that are related to the topic of the week. I ask students to list takeaways or extra questions that these resources bring about.
Thanks for your response! Tom actually came up with the great idea of using 3-2-1 in place of the KWLs for the last week. It is similar to the one minute summary. The student discusses three things that were learned over the course, two things that the student found interesting, and one question regarding the class. Since the students are used to having the K, W, and L to respond to, the 3-2-1 offers the three opportunities in a similar manner. It is a great way for students to discuss what they learned over the course, what they enjoyed, and any last question they might have. Have a good one!
This has been a very successful CAT to use within the discussion forums. I also like the fact that this can be used in any course, content or discussion. It is easily applied to any scenario in class. I find that these are the most beneficial strategies. They should be simple for the student, but also easy for the teacher to evaluate and provide feedback.
Thanks for your response. I agree that it is crucial that the strategies are beneficial for students but also easy to evaluate and provide feedback for. This keeps it simple for both student and instructor while providing another useful assessment tool in the classroom! Have a great day!
20 Comments
I love the Prezi and the background you give of CATs.
I like how the presentation mentions meaningful feedback. The students who take the time to respond to the CATs are looking forward to what the instructor has to say about their thoughts. Also, students can tell when their thoughts and opinions matter to the instructor. CATs can also give the instructor an idea of the level of effectiveness of the utilized instructional methods. Good work!
Thank you Ted and Kristen. The Prezi design was a bit more complex than we have tried before, but it turned out well.
Kristen, thank you for the kind words. I agree that meaningful feedback from the instructor is very important. In fact, the CAT really cannot serve its purpose without instructor feedback. I try to make this a priority in my own classes.
Good evening Ted and Kristen.
Rick and I wanted to focus on the background and development of Classroom Assessment Techniques (CATs). It is so important to obtain a strong grasp over the "what" as well as the "how" before implementing CATs into the classroom.
Thank you both for taking the time to review and comment on our presentation. Let us know if you have any further questions.
-Emily
Great job on the presentation Rick and Emily. It was great to see, in phase 1, the exact way in which you adapted the traditional classroom CATS into the online classroom. It seems vital to explain to the students what the purpose of the CATS are in order to gain their belief in their importance. The idea of follow up and feedback of the results at the end of each week for any and all CATS to close the loop is great. This will show your students another reason why they are important and gain their belief in them even more. Great work!
Emily and Rick,
Thank you for this presentation. Being a new hire for online, this cleared up exactly what a CAT is and actually gave me many ideas on how to use them in the online classroom. As a former classroom teacher, I realized I implemented some of the same strategies in my first grade classroom on a daily basis.
I thank you for the examples that were actually given on how to actually word the different CATs. I also learned that it will be important to go back and close the discussion. Your presentation was very beneficial for me!
Thanks again,
Kimberly Werking
Dear Rick and Emily,
As a new online instructor, I found this video to be very informative. I find that my discussion questions get a little "played out" by day two or three. I tried adding a CAT the other day, and not only did it bring life to the discussion board, but it also reinforced the important points from the module that week. Thanks for the well researched and informative video.
David Larson
Hello Rick and Emily,
Thanks for creating such a great resource. I appreciate the background information provided on the many options for assessing students in a formative way. This would be a great resource for new and "old" instructors alike!
Tom
Sheila, Kim, David and Tom,
I am glad Rick and I are meeting our goal with this presentation. We really wanted to inform those new to online education as to what a CAT is. But, we also wanted to give a clear description to those that already have experience in online education. It does take some trial and error to find those best practices with these strategies, but our hope was to provide some of the techniques that are flexible to meet the needs of a number of contents and classes.
-Emily
Well done! The handout is awesome and will definitely come in handy!
-Jeff
Thank you Rick and Emily for putting this presentation together. As a new hire, I found it to be extremely helpful.
Thank you all for the comments. I think that most of us have used formative assessments in the classroom at one point, but it has been interesting to see how these work in the online asynchronous classroom. I think david said it the best about how these CATs can liven up the discussion. That is one benefit, but the biggest is that the instructor is more aware of where the students are in learning the objectives of the class. This allows us to fine tune our teaching to where the greatest need is. I am glad to see all of the feedback here.
Rick
What wonderful ideas!! If you had to give advice for someone new to the online classroom, where would you recommend starting? What is a good first CATS?
Hi Jean. Thank you for the kind words! In my experience with CATs, the easiest ones to implement would be the One Minute Summary and the Muddiest Point. The One Minute Summary is simply having students restate what they have learned about the objectives during the week. Muddiest Point takes the alternative stance and asks students to state what is still unclear from the week. In both cases, this allows the instructor to get a quick check for understanding for all of the students in the class. Both of these CATs would work in any content area and during any week.
Jean,
I would mimic Rick in his suggestions. One of the important things to keep in mind when creating and utilizing CATs, especially for the first time, is to keep things simple. One of the most common challenges I have seen thus far is in regards to over thinking this technique. It is not meant to be cumbersome for the teacher or the student. To highlight one of the key points that Rick mentions, CATs are meant to be a "quick check for understanding".
-Emily
Hello Emily and Rick,
I like how your presentation gave such a thorough overview and background of CATs! It is a great explanation regarding why CATs should be used and how CATs translate to the online environment. Thanks for sharing the website as I have found some useful resources and ideas! The presentation also included many excellent ideas and examples of CATs! What a great resource! Do you either of you have a favorite CAT?
Thanks,
-John
Hi John,
I tend to like the CATs that can be used universally such as KWLs, Muddiest Point, or One Minute Summaries. I also use a lot of web sites or videos that are related to the topic of the week. I ask students to list takeaways or extra questions that these resources bring about.
Rick
Hello Rick,
Thanks for your response! Tom actually came up with the great idea of using 3-2-1 in place of the KWLs for the last week. It is similar to the one minute summary. The student discusses three things that were learned over the course, two things that the student found interesting, and one question regarding the class. Since the students are used to having the K, W, and L to respond to, the 3-2-1 offers the three opportunities in a similar manner. It is a great way for students to discuss what they learned over the course, what they enjoyed, and any last question they might have. Have a good one!
-John
John,
This has been a very successful CAT to use within the discussion forums. I also like the fact that this can be used in any course, content or discussion. It is easily applied to any scenario in class. I find that these are the most beneficial strategies. They should be simple for the student, but also easy for the teacher to evaluate and provide feedback.
-Emily
Hello Emily,
Thanks for your response. I agree that it is crucial that the strategies are beneficial for students but also easy to evaluate and provide feedback for. This keeps it simple for both student and instructor while providing another useful assessment tool in the classroom! Have a great day!
-John