Susan Polick

That's actually also a good way of reinforcing what they have learned. Writing it down further cements it in their memory.

Do you have a set of skill competencies for each class?

I like to think of skill as "applied knowledge". I worked for a college that had engineering technology programs and can recall employers saying that they preferred our grads because they knew how to apply the theoretical knowledge they had gained.

We had our Electronics faculty rig up buzzers and like you break classes into teams to play "Jeopardy" with their coursework. The students love it and your right it appeals to all the learning styles.

You're quite correct Angela, especially in career schools competencies must be learned and demonstrated for as you mention, the consequesnces can be devastating. Similarly, instructors should be able to identify learning styles and adjust their instruction to meet the needs of their students.

That's great! I'd love to be in one of your classes.

This is a link to an interesting article that includes research on the effects of increasing wait-time : http://www.nwrel.org/scpd/sirs/3/cu5.html

Lee, I'm not sure why you are asking the question. I think that the discussion of this topic so far has been in agreement that using multi-formats in testing is the way to go.

CATs can really be useful for assessing in a manner that is non-threatening. For example,asking students to anonymously list 2 things about this week's work that they still don't quite understand. Or, on a more positive note - list three things they have learned that week and how they think they will use that knowledge/skill in the future. Here's some more useful info on CATs: http://www.ntlf.com/html/lib/bib/assess.htm

Are your students made aware of the rubrics that you use? Are your students traditional age for the most part or do you have many adult students?