StrategiesforTeachingStudentsofVariedBackground
Inmanycourses,astudent’sabilitytomasternewmaterialdependsstronglyonthe
skillsandcontentknowledgestudentsbringfromprerequisitecoursesand
experiences.Asinstructors,weoftenstruggletobothchallengethosestudents
who’vecomeintoourcoursesreadyforarealintellectualchallengeandreachthose
studentswho,becauseofpoorpreparationforthecourse,reallystrugglewithnew
material.Ifwecouldgetthosepoorlyprepared“uptospeed”itwouldbeeasierto
supportallstudentstosucceedinthecourse
EstablishingPrerequisiteKnowledgeRequirements
Oneofthebestthingswecandoforourstudentsistohelpthembeclearaboutwhat
prerequisiteknowledgeisneededasearlyinthecourseaspossible.These
strategiescanhelpstudentstoidentifytheirownareasofweaknessandwill
motivatemanytoworktobecaughtup.
1. Identifyforyourselfwhatprerequisiteknowledgestudentsneed.Especially
ifyou’vetaughtthecoursebefore,youmayknowwhichareasofbackground
knowledgeareparticularlycritical
2. Providestudentswithalistoftopicsorskillsyouexpecttheywillbringto
thecourse.
3. Useaknowledgesurveytohelpyouandyourstudentsidentifywhatthey
knowandwhattheydon’t
http://serc.carleton.edu/NAGTWorkshops/assess/knowledgesurvey.html
4. Usepretestsor“backgroundknowledgeprobe”activitiesearlyinthecourse
5. Providestudentswithpracticewithprerequisitematerialatthebeginningof
thecourse
6. Uselowstakesquizzesorotherassessmentstobesurestudentsknowhow
theyaredoinginthecourse
Notethatsometimestheresultofabackgroundknowledgeprobeorothermethod
thatrevealswhatstudentsknowanddon’tknowwillcauseyoutowanttoalteryour
teachingplaninresponse.
HelpingStudentstobePrepared
1. Usepodcastsorrecordedminilecturestohelpstudentsreviewimportant
material


https://at.boisestate.edu/iTunesU/researchandpedagogy.asp
http://engage.wisc.edu/podcasting/teaching/index.html
2. Linktoweb‐basedmaterialthatwillhelpstudentsrevieworreinforce
material
3. Usecooperativelearningtechniquesinclass

Providechallengingproblems/tasksforstudentstocompletewithina
structuredgroupenvironment
KnowledgeSurvey
AstandardKnowledgeSurveysconsistsofmanyquestionsthatcovertheentire
contentofacourse(orofaprerequisitecourse).Questionsarethosethatmight
appearonhomeworkassignmentsorexamsandcoveralllevelsofBloom'sscaleof
thinking.(Fromlow‐leveltohigh‐levelcognition,thescalegoesfromknowledge,
comprehension,application,analysis,tosynthesis.)
Atypicalsurveymayincludeasmanyas200questions.Thekeyfeatureof
KnowledgeSurveysisthatstudentsdoNOTanswerthequestions.Instead,theysay
whethertheyCOULDanswerthequestionandwithwhatdegreeofconfidence.So,
studentscompletethesurveysrelativelyquickly;200questionsmanytake20‐30
minutes.
Samplequestion:
Ifthereactionbelowweretooccursuchthat3.2gofCH4wereconsumed
completely,howmanygramsofcarbondioxidewouldbeproduced?
CH4+O2CO2+H2O
(A)Iknowthetopicquitewell;Icananswerthisquestionnow
(B)Iknowtheatleast50%ofthetopicpartially,andIknowwhereIcanfind
moreinformationaboutit.Within20minutes,IamconfidentIcanfindthe
completeanswer.
(C)IamnotconfidentIcananswerthequestion.
BackgroundKnowledgeProbe
CollectData:Beforeintroducinganewtopicormajorconcept,findoutwhat
studentsalreadyknowaboutthetopic.Prepare2‐5openendedquestions;besure
nottouseunfamiliarterminology.Writethequestionsontheboardordistributeon
ahandout.Askstudentstowrite3‐4sentenceanswers,makingsurethatstudents
understandthisisnotaquizandwillnotbegraded.Inalargerclass,thisexercise
canbedoneonlinethroughaBlackboardquiz.
DataAnalysis:Scantheresponsesanddividethemintofourpiles:erroneous
backgroundknowledge,norelevantbackgroundknowledge,somebackground
knowledge,andsignificantbackgroundknowledge.
Followup:Reportyourfindingstotheclassandeitheradjustyourlectures
accordinglyand/orprovidestudentswithideasforhowtheycansupplementtheir
backgroundknowledge.Youcouldalsoformstudygroupsbynumberingthefour
dataanalysisgroups(1‐4,lowesttohighest)andforminggroupsof3to4students
fromthevariousknowledgelevels.
Adaptation:Atendofcourse,repeattheexercise,thenhandbackpapersandask
studentstocomparetheirtworesponses.Itcanbemotivatingforstudentstorealize
justhowmuchthey'veincreasedtheirknowledge.Itmayalsomotivatesometoseek
neededhelp.
Caution:Onlyusethistechniqueifyouhavethetimeandinclinationtorespondtoit.
Ifyoucan'torareunwillingtomodifyyourlecturesorsyllabusorhelpstudentsto
identifystrategiesforcatchingup,youmaynotwanttodothisexercise.Onthe
otherhand,itmaygiveyouvitalinformationonwhattospendtimeonandwhatto
runthroughquickly.
Modifiedfromhttp://oic.id.ucsb.edu/faculty‐handbook‐teaching/evaluating‐
instruction/classroom‐assessment‐techniques(downloaded3/1/11)