Using CATs in Online Courses

What's the Principle Overview

• Teacher's Purpose:
  • Assesses learner's ability to associate specific problems with general principles
    
• Learner's Purpose:
  • Helps leaners recognize the general types of problems they can solve with particular principles
    
• Timing:
  • End of presentation/lecture
  • Close of a discussion
  • End of a reading assignment
    
• Hint:
  • Easy assessment to use in any course where students learn rules or principles of practice.
  • This assessment does not work well with beginners.
    
• Feedback:
  • Tabulate responses, note patterns, ask students to justify their choices
  • E-mail students individually if appropriate with additional resources
  • Post results in an announcement or discusion board.

What's the Principle Example

• Topic:
  • Web Design
    

• Method:
  • Survey with multiple answer question (mutiple options can be selected as the answer)
    

• Question:
  • The URL of a web site to review is provided.
    "Which web design best practice do you recommend to improve this site?"
    The possible answers for selection contain a list of web design best practices.
    

• Feedback:
  • Learners complete the survey and the course management system collects responses. Instructor reads responses and posts the results in a discussion thread and students comment on how to implement the best practice.

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