3 Classroom Assessment Techniques You Can Use Online

After teaching a class, have you ever wondered whether your students grasped the concepts you taught? Have you wondered what their knowledge base is before you begin a discussion on a particular topic? Are you curious about what items they may be confused about after the class or lesson?

Using classroom assessment techniques or CATs before, during, or after teaching is a useful way to gain insight into your teaching effectiveness and how well the students are learning. Their use can also help you tailor your educational and teaching approach, and they provide immediate feedback that can help to guide you. One book I always recommend to every program I work in is Classroom Assessment Techniques (CATs) by Angelo and Cross.  The authors emphasize that the tools in their book are focused on formative assessment relative to student learning. They also believe that “the quality of student learning is directly, although not exclusively, related to the quality of teaching. Therefore, one of the most promising ways to improve learning is to improve teaching” (p 7). The tools in this book are designed to help you do both. Although this book is filled with hundreds of classroom assessment techniques, I have selected three of my favorites that can easily be used in online courses.

Background knowledge probe

Our students come to us with varying degrees of knowledge and experience about medicine. It can be challenging at times to know at what level we should teach. Sometimes, it can be beneficial to assess or survey the students’ knowledge about a topic before you plan or begin teaching. The background knowledge probe can help you determine the best starting point for the subject and the level at which to start teaching it. These probes are easy to construct, such as a short survey of questions, a quiz, or a checklist designed to determine what students know about the topic you will be teaching. The probes can also be used as a pre-test and post-test formative assessment.

For example, before I begin faculty development workshops, I commonly use a background knowledge probe to get a sense of what the participants know about teaching and educational practices.  Using this CAT tool helps me determine what the audience knows or thinks about common educational techniques and approaches. I provide a short series of statements for which they are to state whether they believe the item is true or false. The results then help to guide my presentation depth and focus.  At the end of the workshop, I have them complete the probe again. This tool benefits teachers and learners by illuminating what they knew about the topic before and after the presentation.

For an online platform, a background knowledge probe can easily be created or uploaded to whatever learning management system (LMS) is being used (Blackboardâ, Canvasâ, etc.) through the quiz or survey tools. A  Google form can also be used and sent or shared using e-mail. Survey Monkeyâ can another option.

Minute Paper or the One Minute Paper

According to Angelo and Cross (1993), this CAT is one that has been most commonly used by college faculty. It is quick and easy to use and provides useful information on how well students are learning what is being taught. Another benefit of this tool is that it requires students to reflect on their learning to formulate a response—a metacognition activity.

To use a one-minute paper, reserve a few minutes at the end of class. Then ask the students to respond to the following question(s):

“What was the most important thing you learned today?”

“What important question remains unanswered?”

One or both questions can be used. Although the name of this CAT is the “minute” paper, I have found that one minute is not enough time, but three minutes works well. Certainly, adjust it as needed but remember the goal is to take only a few minutes at most.

For online teaching, students can answer the question and submit their responses via LMS chat rooms, discussion or posting boards, e-mail, or Google form.

Muddiest Point

One of my favorite CATs is the muddiest point. It provides a straightforward way to quickly determine what students are still confused or unclear about after a presentation or any educational activity. It gives a high yield of information for very little time or effort.  The information received is invaluable in helping know immediately what the students didn’t understand. The muddiest point CAT is best used right after a lesson or class and before students leave. Similar to the minute paper, this CAT requires reflection by the student about their learning. Faculty can then use the results to identify what aspects were most difficult for students to learn. It also provides feedback to the teacher about the effectiveness of his or her teaching of this topic. 

To use the muddiest point tool simply requires a direction to the students at the end of the learning period to answer the following question: “What was the muddiest point about_____________?” The task should not take more than a few minutes. The goal is to have the student reflect and identify what concept or idea is unclear to them.

In my use of this CAT, I rephrase the question in a few ways.

 “Based on the information presented today, what remains most unclear?”

“After today’s class, what are you most confused about?”

I review all the responses and commonly carve out time in the next class meeting to address what was the most unclear to the majority of students.

For online teaching, students can answer the question and submit their responses via LMS chat rooms, discussion or posting boards, e-mail, or Google form.

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If you are interested in looking at a quick list of CATs for helpful ideas without purchasing the book check out: 50 CAT’s by Angelo and Cross at 

https://vcsa.ucsd.edu/_files/assessment/resources/50_cats.pdf

References

Angelo, T. A., and Cross, K. P. (1993). Classroom assessment techniques: A handbook for college teachers (2^nd ed.). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

Bart, M. (2017). Five Classroom Assessment Techniques for the Online Classroom. The Teaching Professor. Retrieved from https://www.teachingprofessor.com/topics/online-learning/grading-feedback-online-learning/five-classroom-assessment-techniques-online-classroom/