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Home > Workshops and Classes > Teacher Training > The Learner-Centered Teaching Series > Assessing Students in a Learner-Centered Classroom > Classroom Assessment Techniques (CATS)

Classroom Assessment Techniques (CATS)

The Minute Paper
What was the most important thing you learned during this class? What important question remains unanswered?

E-Mail Minute
The most important part of the process is to complete the feedback loop by discussing with students the themes that emerged in their feedback.

Muddiest Point
Muddiest point is perhaps the easiest and quickest CAT since it involves asking only one question: What was the muddiest point in _____________? The focus of the question may be a lecture, a discussion, an assignment, or an event.

Again, it is important to respond to students’ feedback during the next class period or as soon as possible.

One Sentence Summary
This CAT assesses comprehension by asking students to respond to the questions: Who does what to whom, when, where, how, and why (WDWWWWHW)?

A particular topic or passage is the focus, and students synthesize their answers into a long summary sentence. The purpose is to find out how well students can identify critical points by focusing on these specific questions.

This technique is quick and easy to administer because students are limited to one sentence.

Word Journal
First, students summarize an assignment (article, reading, text) in one word. Then, students write a paragraph or two explaining why they selected that particular summary word.

Like the One-Sentence Summary, this CAT assesses how well students can condense large amounts of information by focusing on the key concept or thought in the assignment.

Direct Paraphrasing
In Direct Paraphrasing, students are asked to paraphrase for a particular audience part of a topic, concept, lecture, or article.
This technique assesses how well students understand what they have learned and how well they can use their own words to explain it to individuals with different perspectives.

Application Cards
After students have heard or read about an important principle, theory, concept, or procedure, the instructor hands out index cards and asks students to write down at least one real-world application for what they have just learned.

This is an instantaneous way to determine how students have connected their new learning to prior knowledge and how well they understand how to apply the concepts.

(Huba & Freed, 2000)
(See Angelo & Cross (1993) for more CATS)

 

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