In face-to-face courses, many instructors use brief, informal active learning strategies called Classroom Assessment Techniques (CATs) to check students’ understanding of course content and help students practice applying new concepts. If you’re required to move your course online, you can still use CATs to engage students with course content. In addition, having students complete a CAT can be a substitute for taking attendance (if you assign a CAT in Canvas), by serving as a check that students have listened to a lecture or processed assigned material.
The following examples show how to adapt several popular CATs for use in synchronous and asynchronous online courses. When considering which CAT to use, think about whether you want to maintain students’ anonymity, whether you want students to see each other’s work, how much structure the activity needs, and if you wish to grade students for the activity.
Techniques for students working individually
Background knowledge probe: Have students write anonymous answers to 2 or 3 open-ended questions about their background knowledge related to course material. This information can be used to determine the most effective starting point for a lesson or lecture.
- Canvas Quizzes or Assignments tool
- Qualtrics survey tool
Minute paper: Ask students to respond to an open-ended prompt in 2 sentences or less. Prompts might include questions like “What was the muddiest point in this week’s readings?”, “What connections do you see between these two authors’ concepts?” or “What are some examples of this author’s concept in your everyday life?” The information gathered enables you to see what students are most unclear about, and can form the basis for further discussion or activities.
- Canvas Assignments, Quizzes, or Discussions tool
- Qualtrics survey tool
Empty outline: When assigning a text to be read outside of class, give students an overview of the text that contains major headings and a few subheadings. Students should complete the outline (supplying subheadings and supporting information) as they read.
- Canvas Assignments tool
- Google Docs/Box Notes
Summarizing an assigned text: These three techniques ask students to summarize a text, which helps you check their understanding and ensure that they have done the reading.
- One-sentence summary: Have students generate a sentence that addresses the questions: Who? Did what? To whom or to what? When? Where? How? and Why? about a process, event, the plot of a story, or other declarative knowledge.
- Directed paraphrase: Have students paraphrase a concept, theory, or argument that they have read about. In the requirements, it is essential to specify a length (e.g., number of sentences) and an audience who will receive the paraphrase (how much background knowledge the audience has, what the students’ purpose is in summarizing this information for them).
- Word journal: To help students focus on a particular aspect of a text, have them choose a single word to summarize that aspect. Then, have them write a paragraph explaining why they chose that word.
- Canvas Assignments tool
Student-generated test questions: To prepare for an exam, have students generate test questions that they think might appear on the exam. Scanning over the questions (and answers, if available), you can see whether students have appropriate expectations regarding the types of questions on the exam and material to be learned.
- Canvas Assignments or Discussions tool
Reflection: Many types of reflection activities can be done individually online. Students might reflect on what they learned from a class discussion, a video they were required to view, or an out-of-class experience. They might reflect on their study habits in preparing for an exam in a course or on their effort and what they perceive as the strengths and weaknesses of a larger project. Such reflections could be submitted anonymously or included in a participation grade.
- Canvas Assignments or Quizzes tool
- VoiceThread
Techniques for pairs and groups
Buzz groups: Buzz groups are groups of students formed to respond to questions or brainstorm solutions to a problem. They can be used to prepare students for in-class discussion or to enable students to work more deeply with assigned material.
- Canvas Discussions or Collaborations tool
- Google Docs/Box Notes
Note-taking pairs: Assign students to pairs and have them take notes individually on an assigned reading. They then share their notes in their pairs and check them for completeness and accuracy. This technique enables students to confirm their understanding of an assigned text, and also helps them become better note-takers. Pairs can be asked to consolidate their notes into a single document, which is then handed in.
- Canvas Collaborations tool
- Google Docs/Box Notes
Learning cell: Have students individually develop thoughtful questions about an assigned reading. Then divide them into pairs and have the students in each pair take turns asking and answering each other’s questions. Students can check their understanding of a text using this technique, which encourages students to think more deeply about a text than they might by only taking notes on it. It can also help students prepare for an exam, and student-generated questions can be posted on a forum for others to see.
- Canvas Collaborations or Discussions tool
- Google Docs/Box Notes
Fishbowl: Divide students into two groups. One group will actively participate in an online discussion (the inner circle); the rest will spectate (lurk). Create a discussion or forum and assign a prompt to the inner circle. The inner-circle students can respond to the prompt and then comment on each other’s responses. Instruct the lurkers to monitor the conversation among the inner circle students. After the inner circle students have finished, invite the lurkers to comment on the postings. Assignment as a lurker or an inner circle member can be rotated so that all students have a chance to participate in an online discussion actively.
- Canvas Discussions tool
- Google Docs/Box Notes
- Voicethread
Send a problem: Divide students into groups and assign each group one problem to analyze or solve. Provide a collaboration space or forum for each group where they can post their ideas and arrive at a solution. Then each problem is assigned (or “sent”) to another group, which solves it without reading the first group’s solution. The last group to see a problem reads all the previous groups’ solutions, evaluates and synthesizes them, and reports out to the entire class.
- Canvas Collaborations or Discussions tool
- VoiceThread
- Google Docs/Box Notes
Case study: Divide students into groups. Create a real-world scenario that includes the description of a situation and a dilemma to be resolved. Provide a place for each group where they can post ideas and an analysis of the case study. When each group has written up their analysis and proposed resolution, allow the entire class to read and comment on the analyses of the other groups.
- Canvas Collaborations or Discussions tool
- Google Docs/Box Notes
Peer editing: When assigning a paper, divide students into pairs or trios and have students exchange rough drafts of their papers. Give students specific questions to address or things to look for when editing; often, it works well to provide a form that editors fill out. Editors can also use the “track changes” feature in Microsoft Word to make comments on the paper itself. Then the edited paper and the form can be returned to the writer, and the form can be handed in to be also evaluated.
- Canvas Collaborations tool
- Google Docs/Box Notes