Engaging Diagnostic Assessments

This week in class, we learned about the term diagnostic assessment.  Essentially, this can be defined as an assessment that provides educators with information about each student’s prior knowledge before beginning instruction (smarttutor.com).  Usually, the best time to implement this type of assessment is at the beginning of a lesson or unit.  The assessment essentially tells the teacher where the students are at in terms of their prior knowledge and any potential gaps or barriers that might be in the way.  Often times especially in math, having the foundations are essential to understanding greater mathematical concepts as they build on each other.  For example, to understand collecting “Like Terms” in algebra you must know the basics of BEDMAS as it is important for achieving the correct answer.

                There could be several reasons why a teacher wants to conduct a diagnostic assessment.  First, often when students come back from the summer break into a new grade, it is important to find out where every student is at in terms of their mathematical level.  This will help the lesson planning process be a lot smoother if you can gauge where your students are at.  Usually, at the beginning of the school year a teacher will conduct a diagnostic assessment over the first few days of class.  Using this information, they can review or change certain topics in their lessons to provide a better learning experience in the future.

                There are several different types of diagnostic assessments that can be used in the classroom.  Often times, there is a worksheet or quiz covering last year's material that is handed out which acts a refresher for the students  Although this is a good idea, there are much more interactive diagnostic assessments to get students excited for the upcoming math year.  One idea that was discussed was the idea of using an online application called Kahoot.  Essentially, this application works by the teacher inputting several questions of their choosing and four multiple choice answers.  When they create a game, students are able to connect to it by using their phones, tablets, laptops etc. and instantly join and play.  They are awarded points based on whether their question is right and how fast they answer.  It is an extremely interactive game and would be a great diagnostic tool as the teacher can review the results after the session.  I have provided a quick link to video on how the game Kahoot works. Check it out ! I highly recommend it
                In conclusion, diagnostic assessments is a great tool to get an understanding of students previous knowledge.  This becomes very important at the beginning of new units or even the first day of class as it allows the teacher to gauge where their class is at.  Using interactive diagnostic assessments such as kahoot keeps the classroom fun and engaging for the students as well as provides the teacher with appropriate feedback.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pFFv6_6was4