Classroom Assessment Techniques (CATs) are simple, non-graded, in-class activities designed to give you and your students useful feedback on the teaching-learning process as it’s happening. CATs can be as simple as asking for a show of hands during class or as complex as creating a survey to solicit student feedback on a textbook or other learning materials. For more information on CATs, please see CNDLS’ CATs page.
The chart below provides some examples of CATs and when to use them. (Most of the following chart is adapted from K. Patricia Cross and Thomas A. Angelo, Classroom Assessment Techniques, SF: Jossey-Bass, 1993.)
| What about student learning are you trying to assess? | Possible techniques to use |
| Concepts that are most difficult for students to learn | Muddiest Point Technique Either orally or in writing, students explain which concepts are most difficult to understand and why.
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| Students’ ability to apply essential concepts or skills to new situations | Application Cards After exposure to a new concept, students write about one possible application of the concept.
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| Students’ ability to restate complex information succinctly | The One-Sentence Summary Given a topic, students answer the question “Who does what to whom, when, where, how, and why?” in a single sentence.
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| Students’ ability to communicate learning to others | Directed Paraphrasing The instructor asks the students to paraphrase an important concept in two or three sentences for a specific audience.
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| Students’ ability to distinguish major points and to assess for gaps in their learning | The Minute Paper At the close of a lesson or assignment, students respond to the following questions: “What was the most important thing you learned during this class?” and “What important questions remain unanswered?”
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| For larger-scale projects… | |
| Student learning or attitudes toward learning within courses or across courses of study | Focus groups, small-group diagnostics, student interviews, surveys
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