Classroom Assessment Techniques

Classroom Assessment Techniques are formative evaluation methods that serve two
purposes. They can help you to assess the degree to which your students understand the
course content and they can provide you with information about the efectiveness of your
teaching methods. Most are designed to be quick and easy to use and each CAT provides
diferent kinds of information.
Formative Evaluations
Formative evaluations provide information that can be used to improve course
content methods of teaching and ultimately student learning. Formative
evaluations are most efective when they are done frequently and the information
is used to efect immediate ad!ustments in the day"to"day operations of the
course. #ome faculty incorporate a CAT into every class session.
How do CATs improve teaching and learning?
$hen CAT# are used frequently they can have the following impacts% For faculty
CATs can%
provide day"to"day feedback that can be applied immediately&
provide useful information about what students have learned without the
amount of time required for preparing tests reading papers etc.&
allow you to address student misconceptions or lack of understanding in a
timely way&
help to foster good working relationships with students and encourage
them to understand that teaching and learning are on"going processes that
require full participation.
For students, CATs can:
help develop self"assessment and learning management skills&
reduce feelings of isolation and impotence especially in large classes&
increase understanding and ability to think critically about the course
content&
foster an attitude that values understanding and long"term retention&
show your interest and caring about their success in your classroom.
What kinds o evaluations are CATs designed to perorm?
Course"related knowledge and skills 'including prior knowledge recall and
understanding& analysis and critical thinking skills& synthesis and creative
thinking skills& problem solving skills& and application and performance
skills(
#tudent attitudes values and self"awareness 'including students)
awareness of their own values and attitudes& students) awareness of their
own learning processes& and course"related learning and study skills
awareness(
*eactions to instruction methods 'including student and peer reactions to
teachers and teaching class activities assignments and materials(
Following is a partial chart of CAT e+ercises indicating the kind of evaluation for
which each is intended what each is called how each is conducted what to do
with the information you collect and an appro+imation of the relative amount of
time each requires.
!ind o
Evaluatio
n
"ame How #t$s %one How to &se Time
"eeds
Course
,nowledge
and #kills
-ne"Minute
.aper/
0uring last few minutes of class
period ask students to use a half"
sheet of paper and write 1Most
important thing 2 learned today and
what 2 understood least.3
*eview before ne+t
class meeting and use
to clarify correct or
elaborate.
4ow
Muddiest
.oint/
#imilar to -ne"Minute .aper but
only ask students to describe what
they didn)t understand and what
they think might help.
#ame as -ne"Minute
.aper. 2f many had the
same problem try
another approach.
4ow
Chain 5otes/ .ass around a large envelope with
a question about the class content.
6ach student writes a short
answer puts it in the envelope
and passes it on.
#ort answers by type of
answer. At ne+t class
meeting use to discuss
ways of understanding.
4ow
Application
Article
0uring last 78 minutes of class ask
students to write a short news
article about how a ma!or point
applies to a real"world situation. An
alternative is to have students
write a short article about how the
point applies to their ma!or.
#ort articles and pick
several to read at ne+t
class illustrating range
of applications depth
of understanding and
creativity.
Mediu
m
#tudent"
generated
test
questions/
0ivide the class into groups and
assign each group a topic on which
they are each to write a question
and answer for the ne+t test. 6ach
student should be assured of
getting at least one question right
on the test.
9se as many of the
questions as possible
combining those that
are
similar.
Mediu
m
Attitudes
:alues and
#elf"
Awareness
;ournals Ask students to keep !ournals that
detail their thoughts about the
class. May ask them to be speci<c
recording only attitudes values or
self"awareness.
=ave students turn in
the !ournals several
times during the
semester so you can
chart changes and
development.
Mediu
m
*eactions
to
2nstruction
Methods
6+am
6valuations/
#elect a test that you use regularly
and add a few questions at the end
which ask students to evaluate
how well the test measures their
knowledge or skills.rnals
Make changes to the
test that are
reasonable. Track
student responses over
time.rnals
Mediu
m
#tudent *ep
>roup
Ask students to volunteer to meet
as a small group with you on a
regular basis to discuss how the
course is progressing what they
are learning and suggestions for
improving the course.
#ome issues will be for
your information some
to be addressed in
class.
=igh
#uggestion
?o+
.ut a bo+ near the classroom door
and ask students to leave notes
about any class issue.
*eview and respond at
the ne+t class session.
4ow to
Mediu
m
.eer *eview $ork with a willing colleague pick
a representative class session to be
observed and ask the colleague to
take notes about his@her
impression of the class your
interactions with students and
your teaching methods.
0ecide method with
the colleague.
0iscussion is best but
a written report may
be more useful in the
long term.
=igh
C64T
Classroom
-bservation
C64T staf will observe a class
session you choose and@or video
record a class session.
C64T staf will meet
with you to review
observations and
suggest ways of
improving your
teaching efectiveness.
Mediu
m to
=igh
#mall >roup
2nstructional
0iagnosis
'#>20(
Trained facilitators such as C64T
staf spend a class session eliciting
responses from your students
about what is efective and what is
not so efective in helping them
learn. Aou are not present during
the session.
Facilitators meet with
you to e+plain the data
they have collected
and give you a written
report.
=igh