Get a ‘Pulse’ on Your Students: Pre-assessment Ideas

Get a ‘Pulse’ on Your Students: Pre-assessment Ideas

by Linda Sellers, Instructional Designer III

Pre-assessments are a great way to get a “pulse” on your students’ current knowledge base. Some pre-assessments are formal; others are informal. For instance, a survey on what tech tools students know how to use at the beginning of a semester is an informal pre-assessment. A short 1-3 question quiz given at the beginning of class would be another example of a pre-assessment.  

This pre-assessment data collected from students can inform your teaching. You may find that the class already knows information you planned to teach, or you may discover students lack key concepts you thought they already knew. With either scenario, pre-assessments are a quick way to gauge your learners.   

Some ways to quickly pre-asses student knowledge: 

  • Circle up – Create a list of concepts you have for a unit. Before you start the unit or chapter, have students circle the concepts they understand the least. These are the concepts you want to make sure you cover well.  
  • Poll students - Students can give you a thumbs up/down during a lesson or respond to an online polling tool. 
  • Midweek Pulse – during the middle of the week, give sticky notes (or notecards) to each student as they come into class. They write down what they are unsure about, or they place it under a topic in a graph you have previously set up. You could tally it at the beginning of class or sort after class and identify what they may not know. Those concepts are ones you would give more time on while teaching. 

These ideas can be adapted to an online course. If you use the right tech tool and time it right, it can be an efficient way to get a quick “pulse” on their understanding. You can have them take the pre-assessment at the beginning of unit or module (e.g. just before they start on the learning materials) or just as you are concluding a prior module. Some ideas include:  

  • Canvas 1-3 question quiz   
  • Qualtrics survey 
  • MS Forms or Polls 
  • List ideas on a page in Canvas or on a Word doc.  
  • Use a Q&A discussion to post questions they may have about the concepts. Students can respond to each other’s post. 

 

References 

Barkley, E. & Major, C. (2016). Learning Assessment Techniques: A Handbook for College Faculty. Jossey-Bass. 

Ivanitskaya, L., DuFord, S., Craig, M., & Casey, A. (2008). How Does a Pre-Assessment of Off-Campus Students’ Information Literacy Affect the Effectiveness of Library Instruction? Journal of Library Administration, 48(3–4), 509–525.  

Lazarowitz, R., & Lieb, C. (2006). Formative Assessment Pre-Test to Identify College Students’ Prior Knowledge, Misconceptions and Learning Difficulties in Biology. International Journal of Science and Mathematics Education, 4(4), 741–762.  

Star, J. R., & Strickland, S. K. (2008). Learning to Observe: Using Video to Improve Preservice Mathematics Teachers’ Ability to Notice. Journal of Mathematics Teacher Education, 11(2), 107–125.