40 Monitoring Student Learning
In addition to gathering feedback on how students are experiencing the process of learning, gathering information on how well students are learning is equally important.
Classroom Assessment Techniques (CATs) are short, immediate strategies that measure how students respond to teaching methods.
As described by Dorothy MacKeracher, CATs “are mechanisms for collecting information about the progress of students in specific learning activities and about how they respond to particular teaching strategies. Through using appropriate CATs, an instructor can obtain feedback on what, how much and how well their course participants are learning.”
CATs are:
- Learner centred and teacher directed
- Mutually beneficial
- Usually un-graded and anonymous
- Formative
- Ongoing
- Context specific
CATs can:
- Assess prior knowledge and misconceptions
- Monitor student learning and comprehension
- Provide feedback on student satisfaction with instruction and course activities
- Serve as learning activities
- Assess students’ self awareness as learners
- Serve as data collection tools for research projects
Please review some of the CATs described on the following websites and consider how you might use three of them in your blended course:
50 Classroom Assessment Techniques (CATs)
Examples of Classroom Assessment Techniques
References and Optional Resources for CATs
Anglelo and Cross. (n.d.). 50 classroom assessment techniques (CATs). UCONN University of Connecticut Centre for Excellence in Teaching and Learning. https://cetl.uconn.edu/resources/teaching-and-learning-assessment/teaching-and-learning-assessment-overview/50-assessment-techniques/
MacKeracher, D. (n.d.). Classroom assessment techniques. Teaching and Learning Services, UNB Fredericton.
MGH Institute of Health Professionals. (n.d.). Examples of classroom assessment techniques. https://www.mghihp.edu/faculty-staff-faculty-compass-teaching-teaching-strategies/examples-classroom-assessment-techniques
Vanderbilt University. (n.d.). Classroom assessment techniques (CATs). https://cft.vanderbilt.edu/guides-sub-pages/cats/