Milton,
Tests often have to be set to prepare students for external tests they will have to take - having students use the information in a relevant context will demonstrate what the student understands as opposed to what he/she remembers for the test.
Dr. Ruth Reynard
the way i do this is; generally we have a lecture, then a hands on task, then a written multiple guess exam. then this is where we assessthe understanding/knowledge of the subject, we have a hands on evaluation of a task and we ask them questions on the task, what parts do; how and where, fluids and gases flow (they trace this out on the components with thier hands). It ties everything together.
I can adress the difference by how I ask questions and how the student responds.
If they respond with technical information, to me that is information recall.
If they respond with general terms and procedures that to me is knowledge and understanding.
ask questions, of how a particular task is done. then take students to lab after a theory session and have them perform the tasks.grade on a scale of 1-5 five being the best score, then work with the students with the lower scores.
James,
Presentation -> reinforcement -> application + learning process. You have captured each one of these stages in your description here. Great!
Dr. Ruth Reynard
Louis,
...or if the students ask their own questions that emerge from the application of their learning, that will reinforce that knowledge building.
Dr. Ruth Reynard
After we give specific information the students need to know, we apply it in a hands on fashion for our lab exercizes. I will quiz on the spot what they expect to see, not only a measured value, but why the reading may be good or bad. Students can memorize what specs or values 'should' be, and what values show a fault, but if he or she doesnt understand, and know why the value is such, they have a very difficult time explaining it. Our post test never duplicates our lab exercize, the technique is the same, but never the exact problem. This way, the student must use what they learned to come to a solution, not just memorized from a previous exercize.
james,
explanation followed by demonstration - great! Now, I would suggest you follow up more with critical thinking opportunities such as, "What would happen if this instead of this?" or "What would you do if that was not there?" These kinds of applications questions help students think of the issues from various perspectives and grows their overall knowledge base.
Dr. Ruth Reynard
We have classroom activities and lab the student must be able to do the process and explain why they are doing it.
Robert,
So both the classroom activities and labs provide wonderful hands on opportunities for your students to learn an dfully understand the material. Do you eveluate both their work and their explanations? This would rpovide a more holistic evalutaion an dsupport students in their communication skills as well.
Dr. Ruth Reynard
I use the lab time provided in the course to see if the students are grasping the information. Some students are real good classroom learners and some others are not. So the combination of lab and class time lets me evaluate the knowledge attained by the student. Then the test is given only after the student has had the opportunity to do both lab and class.
Knowledge and understanding are tricky to assess. I belive that UTI dose the right thing as to giving the student 50% of there ending grade as test score and 50% of there grade as a Lab score to show these two key areas.
Keith,
Good combination approach - how does new technology provide opportunities for various levels of diversity even within each one of those environments?
Dr. Ruth Reynard
steve,
Yes, it is important to distribute and weight scores according to the learning outcomes...
Dr. Ruth Reynard
I find the easiest way to find out if the student has a good understanding of what they have learned is to explain to me the process they went through to get their answer.
Michael,
Very true - explanation and demonstration are key ways to assess learning.
Dr. Ruth Reynard
myself in always doing reseach evey day. internet, public forms, more
Markia,
Please expand your response here - are you referring to teacher preparation? Thanks!
Dr. Ruth Reynard
Having the student explain how they got to that conclusion or the process they used to assemled something in lab is a sure way to tell wether or not they did the work and understand it or if someone in their group did the work. I am always asking them questions and looking for the right answers during lecture and lab.
I watch and listen to how my students perform in lab and participate in discussions when debriefing lab projects. I have over the last year found that making note of the quantity and quality of the students interactions has made it easy for me to improve my teaching skills and increase the understanding of the information and participation of the students of my next class.
