testing
Simple Ways to Address the Five Best Teaching Practices (Compiled from the Sept 09 Delta Roundtable Participants)
Submitted by Chris Pfund on Thu, 10/01/2009 - 14:12Tags:
This list of ideas was generated by more than 70 participants at the Delta Roundtable Dinner on September 16, 2009 following Dr. Aaron Brower’s presentation on five best teaching practices. Participants were asked to share one simple, easy-to-implement approach for improving learning in their classrooms. The ideas were collected, compiled, and organized accordingly to the five best teaching practices (learning in context, group-based learning, time on task, increased frequency of feedback, and positive classroom climate). Please note that the list is mostly unfiltered. There are many ideas, only some of which will likely appeal to individual readers. We suggest you browse the list and pick out ideas that resonate with your approach to teaching and the needs of your students.
“Simple” Strategies for Addressing the Five Best Practices in Teaching and Learning
Large class testing - making multiple-choice a learning experience
Submitted by Teaching Academy on Sun, 03/08/2009 - 20:57Tags:
I teach an introductory course in nutrition for non-majors. Enrollment runs 400-600, which necessitates the use of multiple-choice, machine graded exams. Like students, I used to dislike multiple-choice (MC) exams and wish I could test another way. But I've come to see MC as my friend. MC can teach problem solving and critical thinking skills, and can encourage students to take a more global approach to learning.
How Can Review Quizzes Improve Test Performance?
Submitted by Jeff Henriques on Mon, 11/03/2008 - 15:19Tags:
The Quiz tool in Learn@UW is an ideal way to give students repeated practice with the material before a test. This practice not only reinforces the concepts you want them to learn, but leads to better test performance.
I initially began posting old exam questions in L@UW in order to familiarize my students with the style of questions I typically used on my tests.
Am I reaching the students in my large lectures?
Submitted by Judith Kornblatt on Tue, 10/21/2008 - 13:59Tags:
A two-question ungraded quiz at the beginning of each week helps check which students are attending a large lecture class and, even more, provides ongoing feedback to the lecturer about how the students are absorbing the material presented. A quick review of the responses allows the lecturer another chance to make her/his point in the next class, and generally to fine tune the lectures.
When you look out over a sea of faces in the lecture hall, you can never know when or even if the students are "getting it." In fact, you can't even know which students are there at all. Taking attendance would consume the entire 50-minute period, and question and answer would engage only a small handful of students. Waiting for midterms to discover whether you are making sense to the students, much less opening any intellectual doors, is potentially wasting precious weeks of teaching.
