Teaching is an essential aspect in the society and teachers require a specific procedure or technique to guide them on what to do and regarding the progressive learning state of students. Classroom Assessment Techniques (CATs) are non-graded, in-class assessment tools developed to help teachers get feedbacks useful in guiding them of what the students have effectively understood and other learning processes (Barrett, 2018). The main questions that teachers frequently ask themselves whenever it comes to assessing their students are, “what should I assess on the students’ test?” It is paramount that teachers understand that it is critical to be aware of the importance of knowledge and skills in teaching goals, objectives and standards. Taking these aspects into consideration has proven helpful in guiding teaching on what to assess or teach (Cottell, " Harwood, 1998, p. 37). The content that a teacher mentions in the standards of the subject-area and the identified skills in the assessment process should be able to define the learning domain which is; taught, learned and tested.
Teaching effectiveness of a teacher depends upon the teacher being aware of what to teach, when and how to teach it or to what extent. CATs enable teachers to improve their teaching effectiveness and the learning effectiveness of students. The use of CATs help teachers get the just-in-time feedback regarding the teaching and learning process (Mansson, 2013). The question of what should be taught and whether students have understood what has been taught in class and to what extent it answered by the student’s responses. For instance, if the students have better responses to CATs, it implies that they have understood the teachings and are up to the learning standards set for them. On the same, if they have poor responses to CATs, it means they do not understand what they learn in class. In addition to that, CATs help teachers get information regarding student learning progress with ease or less work compared to the traditional assessment system of assignments.
CATs are not only important to teachers but also to students. With the marks got in CATs, students can monitor their own learning and understanding of class teachings. CATs encourage the general view that learning is a continuous process of; inquiry, reflection, and experimentation (Mansson, 2013). With students aware that CATs are constant in their learning process, it helps them study even after school in preparation so as to avoid poor performance. Provided that CATs help teachers tune their strategies of teaching to better the needs of students, there is a dire need for teachers to be aware of strategies for using CATs. There are different guides of CATs and each of these CATs is designed to perform a specific role in enhancing the teaching process (Goldstein, 2007). The CATs taken at the beginning of the course (background knowledge probe) are set to help teachers uncover the pre-conceptions of students and be aware of what to teach and how to go about it. Minute paper tests, on the other hand, are taken after classes to help the teacher know whether the students understood what was taught in class or not. Other CATs include; “Muddiest point”, “What’s the Principle?” and the “Defining Features Matrix.”
A minute paper is a CAT type where the teacher gives students a question seeking to gather information regarding what they have learned in the class. It is usually done during the last minutes of the class. An example of a minute paper CAT is;
a. In 200 words, describe what you have learned in today’s class lesson.
The above minute paper test is developed to help the teacher know how much the students understood with regards to the class teaching of that immediate lesson (Cottell, " Harwood, 1998, p. 551).
References:
Barrett, J. (2018). The Cat’s out of the Bag: Classroom Assessment Techniques to Use in Class Tomorrow. Techniques: Connecting Education " Careers, 93(4), 8–9. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true"db=tfh"AN=128636281"site=ehost-live
Cottell, J. . P. G., " Harwood, E. M. (1998). Using Classroom Assessment Techniques to Improve Student Learning in Accounting Classes. Issues in Accounting Education, 13(3), 551–564. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true"db=bth"AN=969742"site=ehost-live
Cottell, P., " Harwood, E. (1998). Do Classroom Assessment Techniques (CATs) Improve Student Learning? New Directions for Teaching " Learning, 1998(75), 37. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true"db=tfh"AN=9178818"site=ehost-live
Goldstein, G. S. (2007). Using Classroom Assessment Techniques in an Introductory Statistics Class. College Teaching, 55(2), 77–82. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true"db=tfh"AN=25127245"site=ehost-live
Mansson, D. H. (2013). Assessing Student Learning in Intercultural Communication: Implementation of Three Classroom Assessment Techniques. College Student Journal, 47(2), 343–351. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true"db=tfh"AN=88413464"site=ehost-live
