Using CATs in Online Courses

Student Generated Test Questions Overview

• Teacher's Purpose:
  • Helps teachers see what their students consider important or memorable, what they consider to be fair and useful test questions, and how well hey can answer the questions other students have posed.
    
• Learner's Purpose:
  • Responding helps learners to assess how well they know the material. This can refocus their studying.
    
• Timing:
  • End of presentation/lecture
  • Close of a discussion
  • End of a reading assignment
  • End of a unit
    
• Hint:
  • Best administered two or three weeks before a major test -- allowing students time for feedback and studying adjustments.
  • Studnets need feedback on how their questions compare with the actual test questions.
    
• Feedback:
  • Provide e-mail feedback to indivdiual students
  • Provide additional resources/review materials if needed.
  • Learners answer each other's questions on the discusion board.

Student Generated Test Questions Example

• Topic:
  • English Course
    

• Method:
  • Discussion Board
    The instructor intends this CAT to generate discussion for the literature assignment.
    

• Question:
  • Students are asked to create a short answer question for the discussion board (instead of for a test) and respond to two other students' questions.
    

• Feedback:
  • Learner and teacher posts in the discussion board.
    

• Example Provided By:
  • Terri Hilgendorf
    Lewis & Clark Community College
    
    

• Note: In this example, the instructor was not "teaching for a test" but rather devising a method to actively engage the students in the discussion of a reading assignment.

Popular CATs with overviews and examples:

• The Muddiest Point
• The Minute Paper
• The One-Sentence Summary
• What's the Principle?
• The Background Knowledge Probe
• Student-generated Test Questions