Background Knowledge Probe
At the first class meeting, many college teachers ask students for general information on their level of preparation, often requesting that students list courses they have already taken in the relevant field. This technique is designed to collect much more specific, and more useful, feedback on students' prior learning. Background Knowledge Probes are short, simple questionnaires prepared by instructors for use at the beginning of a course, at the start of a new unit or lesson, or prior to introducing an important new topic. A given Background Knowledge Probe may require students to write short answers, to circle the correct response to multiple-choice questions, or both. An excellent online resource is the Virginia Commonwealth University's - CTE's Online CAT's Resource Guide. Three broad areas are identified and ideas to assess:
1) Course-Related Knowledge and Skills
2) Learner Attitudes, Values
3) Self-Awareness and Learner Reaction to Instruction.
1) Course-Related Knowledge and Skills
2) Learner Attitudes, Values
3) Self-Awareness and Learner Reaction to Instruction.
Step by Step
- Before introducing an important new concept, subject, or topic in the course syllabus, consider what the students may already know about it. Recognizing that their knowledge may be partial, fragmentary, simplistic, or even incorrect, try to find at lease one point that most students are likely to know, and use that point to lead into others, less familiar points.
- Prepare two or three open-ended questions, a handful of short-answer questions, or ten to twenty multiple-choice questions that will probe the students' existing knowledge of that concept, subject, or topic. These questions need to be carefully phrased, since a vocabulary that may not be familiar to the students can obscure your assessment of how well they know the facts or concepts.
- Write your open-ended questions on the board, hand out short questionnaires, or post in your online class. Direct student to answer open-ended questions succinctly, in two or three sentences if possible. Announce that these Background Knowledge Probes are not tests or quizzes and will not be graded. Encourage students to give thoughtful answers that will help you make effective instructional decisions.
- At the next class meeting, or as soon as possible, let students know the results, and tell them how that information will affect what you do as the teacher and how it should affect what they do as learners.