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CAT v. Quiz? l
Why Online? l
Flashlight CAT Collection
l Flashlight Evaluation
Handbook Table of Contents
Introduction
Pat Cross and Tom Angelo popularized the
idea of "classroom assessment techniques" (CATs) in the
1980s. They originally described 30 'low threshold'
approaches to gathering feedback from students, the kinds of
feedback that can be used, almost moment by moment, to gauge
how a course is doing and to improve its effectiveness. For
example, a faculty member might pause in the middle of a
class meeting and ask students to write for one minute,
describing the most important point covered in the last half
hour that is still "muddy" (unclear) for that student.
Let's call such inquiries Course Assessment Techniques
("course" seems more accurate than "classroom" since these
approaches can be used for homework or for online classes,
not just classrooms). The common abbreviation is CATs. The
goal of any CAT is to give an instructor more insight than
students' faces and homework assignments alone could reveal.
A good CAT can be a time-saver by giving faculty insights
into how learning can be improved while wasted effort
(student and/or faculty) is reduced.
What's the difference between a CAT
and a quiz or homework assignment? A quiz or
homework assignment represents faculty 'research' into what
students have learned - 'learning outcomes.' In
contrast, A CAT is research into the activity or process of
learning. A CAT often requires students to think about their
own learning (e.g., what points are still unclear to you?)
In addition to their other benefits, CATs should be helping
students learn how to learn.
When to use a CAT Online
CATS can often use a survey system such as
Flashlight Online when the aim is student feedback...
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...on homework,
projects, internships or other activities going on
outside the classroom
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...with every student
providing feedback on the same question or issue (rather
than paying most attention to those who speak or who are
in the front rows
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...that needs to be
anonymous (anonymity isn't required for a CAT but it's
not usually an option face-to-face)
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...that is needed (just)
before class meets, in order to help design what will
happen during that class meeting.
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...that is about
distance or distributed learning courses that meet
rarely or not at all.
Linked below are several examples of course
assessment techniques that gather their information online.
Unless otherwise indicated, they are adapted from Cross and
Angelo, 1986. We suggest that, if these techniques are
interesting, you read one of the books on this subject;
Cross and Angelo describe each CAT in more detail (listing
pro's and cons of using it, estimating time needed to do it,
and so on) than we do. We only describe a small fraction of
the CATs described even in this first edition of Cross and
Angelo. However, each of our descriptions is linked to
instructions for using a Flashlight Online template to
easily gather and analyze this type of data.
We've only done a few CAT templates so far, to test whether
our subscribers find them useful. If you do, please let us
know by e-mailing ehrmann@tltgroup.org - we'll make the most
popular surveys into templates for Flashlight Online so that
they're even easier to use, and we'll create more such model
CATs. Just let us know if that's what you need!
We have developed short
(5-15)
workshop modules to introduce several of our CATs. These are
called "Asking the Right Questions" (ARQ) workshop
materials, and they're linked to the list above.
If you're at a
subscriber
institution, please send us your own CAT, especially
CATs that could be administered via survey. We would be
happy to provide suggestions and praise. Maybe we can also
help you share them with other academics around the world!
Send email to Steve Ehrmann (flashlight @ tltgroup.org).
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