What do my students already know? This is a question all teachers have at the start of each school year or at the beginning of a new unit. Knowing what students already know not only saves us time (since we may not need to re-teach stuff our students already know). It helps us do a better overall job of teaching. It helps us know where the trouble spots are so we can address them prior to starting something new. And, it helps us connect new material to prior knowledge. The issue is at hand is in how we assess prior knowledge. How do we probe for background knowledge that students already possess? Is there a quick way to do it that doesn’t require a test?

Although pre-unit quizzes represent one way to assess prior knowledge, it may not be the most ideal. Just consider the amount of marking that will ensue. Also, if a student does poorly on a pre-unit quiz, we may not know what the problem is. Instead, we only know that the student cannot do the question. Thus, an ideal way to assess prior knowledge would not only provide what a student may or may not know – it should also reveal some trouble spots for teachers to focus on. We explore using phony articles (we call them Accuracy-Challenged Articles) and Mind Maps to assess prior knowledge. Handouts are available for download at the end of this post.

How we Assess prior knowledge in KMT, Matter

KMT (Kinetic molecular theory) and matter are cornerstone principles for all high school Chemistry. And, it’s also the topics I like to review at the beginning of each school year with my students. This year, instead of just asking students what they remember from last year or having them do a KMT or matter quiz, I tried the following strategies for assessing prior knowledge:

I. Accuracy-challenged Article

One strategy I found online for assessing prior knowledge had students analyze an article on a phony website (that the teacher created) to determine what information was wrong. Personally, I don’t have time to make a webpage (and I think most teachers don’t either). Instead, to review KMT, I created a handout titled “How Thermometers work”, which describes how KMT is related to the way a thermometer works. I made sure some things in the article were incorrect and pasted the Wikipedia heading, sidebar, and images for effect.

Students read the article with their partners to determine what was wrong, and we did a short in class discussion afterwards. You can download the handout at the end of the post.

II. Mind map (use Superheroes for inspiration!)

In Grade 8 science at my school, the topic of matter includes pure substances vs mixtures as well as atomic structure. Thus, when they come to Grade 9 or 10 Science, I like to review what they remember about the topic. For this, I like to use a mind map. I provide the list of words and they make the connections.

Surprisingly, there are quite a few students in each class who are uncertain of how to create a mind map. This is where I teach students how to make a mind map by first making a superhero mind map as an example. I write the word “Superheroes” in a bubble on the center of my white board. Then, I say that I can proceed to just list off a whole bunch of superheroes and connect each of them to the center bubble. But, that would be a very weak mind map. Instead, I talk about the ways we can classify superheroes and perhaps have these classifications be bubbles too. What are some classifications? How about DC vs Marvel? Or, how about superheroes who have powers that are supernatural vs powers that are due to technology or genetic modification?

The great thing about our Superhero Mind Map activity is that it’s easy to relate to for students. And, it’s also very open ended. No two mind maps are likely to be the same. As a review of the topic of matter in Chemistry, I have students write “matter” as the centre bubble of the mind map. The list of words I have students connect in the mind map is available in the handouts available for download.

Wrap Up

How do we assess prior knowledge? Hint: it does not need to be in the form of  a quiz. Using strategies like mind maps and accuracy-challenged articles are ways students can review material while working with relevant concepts. Furthermore, on background knowledge quizzes, we don’t necessarily know what a student struggles with when they get a question wrong. However, using strategies like mind maps and accuracy-challenged articles may provide better insight into these challenges since students need to work with the information. Click the link below to download the handouts to this article. Also, please share what our website has to offer with your colleagues.

Until next time, keep it REAL.

Resources

Handout(s): 50 – Assessing Prior Knowledge (KMT Activity)

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