Troubleshooting
What will be the best way to test a student skill level after they have been placed in your class? That way you can give the student the best chance of passing the subject.
Khaison,
Many instructors use pretesting to determine what prior knowledge their students have. With that information, an instructor can better plan where and what emphasis is best for these students, in this class, at this time, with these collective backgrounds.
Barry Westling
I feel like the best way to test a student's skill level is to ask specific questions about the material you expect them to understand. Then give them an exercise that allows them to demonstrate their understanding of the material.
David,
Sure. I call this checking for understanding, and this can be done continusously throuyghout a lesson, i.e., take three steps forward, take one step back and ask questions to students at random. Repeat throughout the lesson.
Barry Westling
I feel that troubleshooting your class should happen all term. People change as they learn. I also know that troubleshooting is something that is different to each situation. What worked for a class of students before might not work for this class. I also feel that some may not be able to write out what they know, but they can show you by hands on. It is class dependent in my eyes.
Mandy,
You're right. Troubleshooting is like survying the scence for how students are reponding, making adjustments, modifying the curriculum on the spot. It's sort of like steering a vessel in choppy waters: one sort of has to go with the flow regarding what is happening at the moment.
Barry Westling
I love the concept of checking for understanding and I do it daily in class; however, I really want to more consciously implement doing this continously throughout a course as I think it is helpful and empowering to the instructor and students.
Charlene,
I've found there's sort of a cadence to the delivery of many of my topics. So practice is a good way to find that tempo of presenting, asking, clarifying, moving on.
Barry Westling
The best way to gauge the student's skill is to ask familiar questions pertaining the course subject matter. Then I would know how to use the time allotted for the course.
Nestor,
Questioning is a great method to get a sense if students are tracking, and if they are understanding the material. Review or re-instruction can be planned for depending on how the students are responding.
Barry Westling
