Making Connections: Using Classroom Assessment to

Elicit Students’ Prior Knowledge and Construction

of Concepts

By Sarah Schwarm andTammy VanDeGrift

Computer Science & EngineeringUniversity of WashingtonSeattle, Washington, USA

Classroom Assessment Techniques (CATs)

• What are they?• Learner-centered, teacher-directed, formative

assessment activities• How do they work?

• Students complete problem/challenge and submit responses anonymously

• Instructor looks through responses and provides feedback the next class session

• Examples• Muddiest Point, Extended Analogy, Directed

Paraphrase• [Angelo & Cross, 1993]

Why use Classroom Assessment?

• Provide opportunities for:• Feedback about learning and teaching

[Angelo, 1995; Bransford, Brown & Cocking, 2000]

• Active learning, processing [Bonwell & Eison, 1991; McConnell, 1996]

• Reflection on the learning process [Weinstein & Mayer, 1986]

• Elicitation of prior knowledge [Norman, 1980]

Overview of Classroom Study

• Classroom Setting• Large lecture of 120 undergraduate students• Introductory Information Technology (IT)

course• Instructors willing to use CATs• Study spanned two academic terms

• Research Question• How can classroom assessment techniques

elicit students’ construction of knowledge?

Methods• Developed CATs with instructor approval• Observed classroom sessions • Interviewed instructors about their

experiences• Asked students to complete voluntary

survey• Analyzed students’ responses to CATs

and the survey using content analysis

Study InstrumentsSurvey Questions

1. Which of these activities were most helpful to your learning, and how?2. Do you think your responses to these assignments have affected the instructor’s teaching?3. Do you have any other comments about these activities?

Topic CAT Type

Digital Representation

Directed Paraphrase

Variables Sentence Summary, Focused Listing

Iteration Application Card

Database Schemas

Extended Analogy

Themes Regarding Knowledge Construction

• Responses to CATs show:• Students bring

prior knowledge about IT concepts to class

• Students connect ideas to prior knowledge and experiences

• Student survey responses show:• CATs can help

students construct knowledge

• CATs can promote metacognitive thinking

Digital Representation CAT Content Analysis

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

Percent

First Study (N =94)

Second Study(N = 103)

SymbolsOn/ OffNumeric Rep.LanguageBits/ BytesNew AnalogyAnalogy [Class]Other

Variable CAT Content Analysis

05

1015202530354045

Percent

First Study (N =104)

Second Study (N= 88)

OperationalMemoryUpdatableSymbolVaryingMathOther

Variable CAT Misconceptions

• Some students believe the value varies in a variable.• “[An] assigned letter with numerous possible

values.”• “It can change for different tasks.”

• Some students use the variable definition in mathematics.• “A variable is an unknown part of an equation.”• “A variable is a character that is equivalent to a

numerical value.”(Instructor made distinction between math and programming

explicit.)

Iteration and Database Schemas

• Students related iteration to:• Technology

(televisions, clocks, stop lights, spell checking)

• Daily life (walking, schedule, hammering a nail, kitchen timer)

• Science (polymerase chain reaction)

• Students related “schema is to database as”• DNA is to humans• Recipe is to a cake• Outline is to an

essay• Map is to a

journey

Promoting Metacognition (First Study)

• CATs made students aware of their own thinking and learning [24.1%]• “[Explaining

digital representation] made me think about what I know and what I don’t know.”

• CATs helped students clarify/define concepts in their mind [different 24.1%]• “I thought that the

[Directed Paraphrase] was really good. It shows that we actually have to know a topic well enough to simplify it.”

Construction of Concepts (Second Study) [1 of 2]

Theme Implication Percent Example

Application to real life

Students may build on top of existing knowledge

14.5 “The iteration in daily life and the analogy … were helpful because they could be ‘related’ to something we do everyday.”

Breaking concepts into simpler pieces

Students may need to reassemble concepts

15.8 “I had to break down a complicated subject into concepts that anyone could understand. I benefited from this.”

Construction of Concepts (Second Study) [2 of 2]

Theme Implication Percent Example

Understand in a different way, understand better

Students may need multiple perspectives

17.1 “Explaining to the little sister made me … understand the info in a different way.”

Visualize concepts

Students may connect knowledge through visualization

7.9 “The question about iteration … because the examples that some people thought of and shared were examples that I could visualize and understand easily.”

Conclusions• Students bring prior knowledge to the

classroom.• CATs are one method to elicit prior

knowledge.• CATs can engage students in

metacognitive thinking and help students and instructors see how they construct new knowledge.

Thanks To:• Students who completed and provided

feedback about the CATs• Instructors who used the CATs• Rick Cox, Janet Davis and Marianne Shaw

for helping with data analysis

For more information, please contact:tammy@cs.washington.eduhttp://www.cs.washington.edu/research/

edtech/

Extra Slides

Digital Representation CAT

Number of Ideas

First Study(N = 94)

Second Study(N = 103)

1 45.7 18.4

2 40.4 36.9

>= 3 13.8 44.7

Several student responses spanned more than one category

Informing Understanding• Motivated Students

• Instructor: “The CATs helped me a lot – understanding that [the students] really were struggling. They weren’t just resistant [to learning].”

• Students’ Misinterpretations• Instructor: “[I] get confirmation [by using CATs] and

find out how [the students] are misinterpreting [digital representation].”

• Benefit to Students• Student: “We learn from the professor, but in return,

he also learns from us. Responses to these [CATs] help the professor know the level that we’re at.”

Applications to Real Life• “[Iteration and Databases] were helpful because

they could be ‘related’ to something we do/see everyday.

• “By having us apply concepts to real life, you are challenging us to actually understand the concepts.”

• “…made me think about how iteration does occur and how I could translate it into real life.”

• “Anything I can relate to real life is helpful.”• “[Digital Representation and Iteration] were good

because they were real-life examples requiring thinking about the concepts in a non-classroom setting.”

Breaking Concepts Down• “All were helpful because they took what we

learned in class and had us put in non-technical terms for non-[Course Number] learners to know.”

• “Explain digital rep. to a 10-year-old because I could take this big concept and bring it down and put it in my own words.”

• “Essentially breaking it down to its basic form.”• “[Digital Representation] puts stuff in simplest

terms.”• “helps bring all that technical mumbo-jumbo down

to more comprehensible material.”

Understand Differently, Better

• “It just helped me understand it better.”• “Helped me conceptualize things. Made me

think about how explain ideas and concepts. Clarified things in my head.”

• “gave me a better understanding of exactly what a variable is.”

• “giving us an understanding of a key concept involved.”

• “helped me learn the basics before moving on to the bigger things.”

Visualize Concepts• “[Schema and Database] helpd me see what

was going on in the program.”• “[Iteration] helped in visualizing what the VB

command was actually doing.”• “[Iteration] gave me a chance to put a face

on the operation so that I could understand it.”

• “[Digital Representation] helped to visualize”

• “I can see how repetition actually works in iteration.”