AIOU Solved Assignment 1 and 2 Code 8601 Autumn and Spring

 AIOU B. Ed General Methods of Teaching (8601) | Solved Assignment 1. 

Q.5

Explain different theories of motivation. 

DEFINITION OF MOTIVATION

The word motivation is derived from the Latin word ‘movers’ which means to move. Thus; motivation is an external force that accelerates a response or behavior. Motivation is a cause of an organism’s behavior or the reason that an organism carries out some activity. In a human being, motivation involves both conscious and unconscious drives 

Motivation is described by different psychologists differently as described below:- 

• “The term motivation refers to the arousal of a tendency to act to produce one or

more effect” Allport (1935 ) 

• “Motivation is constant, never-ending, fluctuating and complex and it is an almost

universal characteristic of particularly every organismic state of affairs.” Maslow(1960 )

• “The process of arousing, sustaining and regulating activity” Crow. L. D.(1953 )

• “The central factor in the effective management of the process of learning.”B.R.

Annandi (1981)

• “Motivation in school learning involves arousing, persisting, sustaining and

directing desirable behavior.” Lepper, Mark R.(1998)

The word motivation refers to getting someone moving. When we motivate ourselves or someone else, we develop incentives or we set up conditions that start or stop the behavior. In education, motivation deals with the problem of setting up conditions so that learners will perform to the best of their abilities in academic settings. We often motivate learners by helping them develop an expectancy that a benefit will occur as a result of their participation in an instructional experience. Motivation is concerned with the factors that stimulate or inhibit the desire to engage in the behavior. It involves the processes that energize, direct and sustain behavior. It can be thought of as an internal process that activates, guides, and maintains behavior over time.

THEORIES OF MOTIVATION

Motivation is a state-of-mind, filled with energy and enthusiasm, which drives a person to work in a certain way to achieve desired goals. Motivation is a force that pushes a person to work with a high level of commitment and focus even if things are against him. Motivation translates into a certain kind of human behavior.  It is important to ensure that every team member in an organization is motivated. Various psychologists have studied human behavior and have formalized their findings in the form of various motivation theories. These motivation theories provide a great understanding of how people behave and what motivates them. Motivation is a huge field of study. There are many theories of motivation. Some of the famous motivation theories include the following:

The Behavioural Perspective

According to the behaviorist view of learning, when children are rewarded with praise and a gold star for doing their job correctly, they will look forward to the next mathematics lesson, anticipating another reward. At some time in the past, they must have been rewarded for similar achievements and this experience acts as a motivator for future learning of a similar type.

For behaviorists, motivation is simply a product of effective contingent reinforcement. So, they emphasize the use of extrinsic reinforcement to stimulate students’ task engagement. The reinforcement can take the form of praise, a smile, an early mark, or loss of privileges such as missing out on the sport.

“Almost all teachers use extrinsic reinforcement in some form to motivate students, although they may not realize they are doing so and may not always use such reinforcement effectively.” (Brody, 1992 in Krause, et. al, 2003)

The Humanistic Perspective

The humanist theory of motivation is interesting because it is not only linked to achievement and education but also has implications for students’ welfare and wellbeing through its concern with basic needs. It stresses students’ capacity for personal growth, freedom to choose their destiny, and positive qualities.

There are two theories of motivation from a humanistic perspective:

(a) Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs

Maslow (1954) perceived motivation in terms of a hierarchy of needs that can also be conceived as ‘motives’. According to Maslow’s model, once basic physiological needs have been satisfied, efforts are directed toward achieving needs associated with safety, love and belonging, and self-esteem.

Abraham Maslow postulated that a person will be motivated when his needs are fulfilled. The need starts from the lowest level basic needs and keeps moving up as a lower-level need is fulfilled. Below is the hierarchy of needs:

• Physiological:  Physical survival necessities such as food, water, and shelter.

• Safety:  Protection from threats, deprivation, and other dangers.

• Social (belongingness and love):  The need for association, affiliation, friendship, and so on.

• Self-esteem:  The need for respect and recognition.

• Self-actualization:  The opportunity for personal development, learning, and fun/creative/challenging work.  Self-actualization is the highest level of need to which a human being can aspire.

b) Roger’s motivation theory

Carl Rogers’s ideas are also influential in discussing the nature of motivation and its impact on human lives. Rogers argued that: Behaviour was influenced by the individual’s perception of both personal and environmental factors. People should listen to their ‘inner voices’ or innate capacity to judge what was good for themselves, rather than relying on feedback from external sources.

Carl Rogers (1959) believed that humans have one basic motive, that is the tendency to self-actualize - i.e., to fulfill one's potential and achieve the highest level of 'human being we can.

Like a flower that will grow to its full potential if the conditions are right, but which is constrained by its environment, so people will flourish and reach their potential if their environment is good enough.

However, unlike a flower, the potential of the individual human is unique, and we are meant to develop in different ways according to our personality.  Rogers believed that people are inherently good and creative.

They become destructive only when a poor self-concept or external constraints override the valuing process.  Carl Rogers believed that for a person to achieve self-actualization they must be in a state of congruence.

This means that self-actualization occurs when a person’s “ideal self” (i.e., who they would like to be) is congruent with their actual behavior (self-image).

Rogers describes an individual who is actualizing as a fully functioning person. The main determinant of whether we will become self-actualized is childhood experience.

The Cognitive Perspective

“According to Santrock (2006), the cognitive perspective on motivation focuses on students’ thought to guide their motivation. It focuses on students’ internal motivation to achieve, their attribution (perception about the causes of success or failure), and their beliefs that they can effectively control their environment. It also stresses the importance of goal setting, planning, and monitoring progress toward a goal.”

(a) Achievement Motivation

John Atkinson and David McClelland described the need for achievement as: “A stable personality characteristic that drives some individuals to strive for success. Students who have a high need for achievement are motivated to become involved in an activity if they believe that they will be successful. They are moderate risk takers and tend to be attracted to tasks where the chances of success are fifty-fifty; since there is a good chance they will be successful. They like to attempt a task, but not if they know there is a substantial risk of failure.” On the other hand, Krause described: “Students who have a need to avoid failure, rather than a need to achieve success, will look for tasks that are either very easy and have little risk of failure, or very difficult so that failure is not their fault.”

(b) Weiner Attribution Theory

Attribution theory is concerned with the way in which an individual’s explanations of success and failure influence that individual’s subsequent motivation and behavior. Students may attribute success or failure to different causes, depending on their beliefs about who or what controls their success or failure. There are three important elements to note regarding the way in which students interpret the cause of the behavioral outcomes. The three important elements are the locus of control, controllability, and stability.

AIOU Solved Assignment 1 and 2 Code 8601 Autumn and Spring

AIOU B. Ed General Methods of Teaching (8601) | Solved Assignment 1. 

Q.4 

(i) Highlight the Hunter's seven steps of lesson planning. 

(ii) How is 5E's model of lesson planning different from the others models?

Answer

(i) Highlight the Hunter's seven steps of lesson planning. 

 

Background:

Educational experiences devised using the Hunter Lesson Plan Model are highly structured and repetitive. The model was developed by the late school principal and long-time educator Dr. Madeline Hunter. The traditional steps of the Hunter Lesson Plan Model were designed for the explicit purpose of having students get it right the first time through. Erroneously some school administrators have used the model to analyze teaching performances.  

Hunter developed her model using the science and knowledge of her time. Her model is a standard behavioral technique of direct instruction and modified operant conditioning, plus it has just the beginnings of information processing for recall. Hunter knew that the human brain lays down pathways as it learns. She wanted to assure that teachers gave learners little or no opportunity to “get it wrong” or lay down neural pathways that were incorrect. Madeline Hunter did this because the research at the time indicated that relearning materials or skills took much more time than learning them right the first time.

Hunter’s model is designed to minimize mislearning events in the first place. Here are the points of this lesson planning model. 

Hunter's Seven Steps of Lesson Planning 

Hunter developed a seven steps model of lesson planning. These steps are associated with the direct instruction method and behavior change practices. The seven steps fall under four categories as follows:

1. Objectives

Before the lesson is prepared, the teacher should have a clear idea of what the teaching objectives are. What, specifically, should the student be able to do, understand, care about as a result of the teaching. informal. Bloom’s Taxonomy of Educational Objectives which is shown below, gives an idea of the terms used in an instructional objective.

2. Standards

The teacher needs to know what standards of performance are to be expected and when pupils will be held accountable for what is expected. The pupils should be informed about the standards of performance. Standards: an explanation of the type of lesson to be presented, procedures to be followed, and behavioral expectations related to it, what the students are expected to do, what knowledge or skills are to be
demonstrated and in what manner.

3. Anticipatory set

Anticipatory set or Set Induction: sometimes called a “hook” to grab the student’s attention: actions and statements by the teacher to relate the experiences of the students to the objectives of the lesson.
To put students into a receptive frame of mind.

• to focus student attention on the lesson.

• to create an organizing framework for the ideas, principles, or
  information that is to follow (c.f., the teaching strategy called
  “advance organizers”).

• to extend the understanding and the application of abstract ideas
  through the use of example or analogy…used any time a different activity
  or a new concept is to be introduced.

4. Teaching

includes Input, Modeling, and Checking for Understanding.

• Input: The teacher provides the information needed for students to gain knowledge or skill through lecture, film, tape, video, pictures, etc.

• Modeling: Once the material has been presented, the teacher uses it to show students examples of what is expected as an end product of their work. The critical aspects are explained through labeling, categorizing, comparing, etc. Students are taken to the application level (problem-solving, comparison, summarizing, etc.)

• Checking for Understanding: Determination of whether students have “got it” before proceeding. It is essential that students practice doing it right so the teacher must know that students understand before proceeding to practice. If there is any doubt that the class has not understood, the concept/skill should be retaught before practice begins. Questioning strategies: asking questions that go beyond mere recall to probe for the higher levels of understanding…to ensure memory network
  binding and transfer. Bloom’s Taxonomy of Educational Objectives provides a structure for questioning that is hierarchical and cumulative. [See the end of this section for a summary of the Taxonomy of Educational Objectives.] It provides guidance to the teacher in structuring questions at the level of proximal development, i.e., a level at which the pupil is prepared to cope. Questions progress from the lowest to the highest of the six levels of the cognitive domain of the Taxonomy of Educational Objectives: knowledge, comprehension, application, analysis, synthesis, and evaluation.

5. Guided practice/monitoring

An opportunity for each student to demonstrate a grasp of new learning by working through an activity or exercise under the teacher’s direct supervision. The teacher moves around the room to determine the level of mastery and to provide individual remediation as needed. [Fred Jones'"praise, prompt, and leave" is suggested as a strategy to be used in guided practice.]

 

6. Closure

Closure: Those actions or statements by a teacher that are designed to bring a lesser presentation to an appropriate conclusion. Used to help students bring things together in their own minds, to make sense out of what has just been taught. “Any questions? No. OK, let’s move on” is not closure. The closure is used:

• to cue students to the fact that they have arrived at an important point in the lesson or the end of a lesson,

• to help organize student learning,

• to help form a coherent picture, to consolidate, eliminate confusion
  and frustration, etc.,

• to reinforce the major points to be learned…to help establish the network of thought relationships that provide a number of possibilities for cues for retrieval. The closure is the act of reviewing and clarifying the key points of a lesson, tying them together into a coherent whole, and ensuring their utility in the application by securing them in the student’s conceptual network

 

7. Independent practice

Once pupils have mastered the content or skill, it is time to provide reinforcement practice. It is provided on a repeating schedule so that the learning is not forgotten. It may be homework or group or individual work in class. It can be utilized as an element in a subsequent project. It should provide for decontextualization: enough different contexts so that the skill/concept may be applied to any relevant situation…not only the context in which it was originally learned. The failure to do this is responsible for most students' failure to be able to apply something learned.

Analysis: 

The Hunter Lesson Plan Model has a number of advantages and an equal number of disadvantages. For instance, it is a great drill and practice model. The model is an excellent one for content or processes that benefit from lots of repetition. In that regard, it is more readily suited for lessons that emphasize the lower tier of Bloom’s revised taxonomy– remembering (knowledge), understanding (comprehension), and applying (application).

However, without considerable thought, revision, and artful manipulation, the model’s repetitive structure is not appropriate for open-ended learning experiences, discovery learning sessions, or exploratory educational experiences, especially ones requiring divergent thinking skills, creative problem solving, or higher-level thinking skills. Too, this model is not particularly well suited for use with gifted students. This population becomes easily bored with repetitive applications and steps, especially if they are not very challenging. Gifted students may also resent tightly, teacher-controlled learning settings where learning patterns are readily apparent from the very beginning. 

 

(ii) How is 5E's model of lesson planning different from the others models? 

Lesson Planning 

Lesson planning is the instructor’s road map of what students need to learn and how it will be done effectively during class time. Before planning a lesson, the instructor first needs to identify the learning objectives for the class meeting.  Then, he/she can design appropriate learning activities and develop strategies to obtain feedback on student learning. A successful lesson plan addresses and integrates these three key components:

• Objectives for student learning

• Teaching/learning activities

• Strategies to check student understanding

Specifying concrete objectives for student learning will help determine the kinds of teaching and learning activities that teacher will use in class, while those activities will define how to check whether the learning objectives have been accomplished 

APPROACHES TO LESSON PLANNING: 

There are different styles for lesson planning. The common style of lesson planning contains the following basic elements: 

• 3-5 lesson objectives 

• Content to be covered

 • Activities (lecture, group work, problem-solving, etc.) 

• Resources and materials needed (including technology) 

• Timing 

• Out of classwork and assessment 

The following classic lesson planning models are most popular in lesson planning. These are: 

1) Gagne’s framework for instructional development, 

2) Hunter’s seven steps of lesson planning and 

3) The 5 E's lesson planning model  

Here I will discuss The 5 E's lesson planning model in detail and see how this model is different from other models of lesson planning. 

5 E’s of Lesson Planning

The learning theory of Constructivism states that learners construct new ideas or concepts on the basis of their current/past knowledge. This model is based on the ideas of constructive learning. Teachers design their instructions/ lessons around the learning objective, gather resources and provide students an opportunity to explore, build, and demonstrate their learning. It shifts the learning environment from teacher-centered to learner-centered. The 5 E's Lesson Planning Model is most often associated with constructivist learning design. 

Primary Connections resources and professional learning is based on the 5E teaching and learning model. This evidenced-based approach is effective in guiding teaching and learning of science because it supports active, constructivist learning; students draw on their prior knowledge, pose questions, participate in hands-on experiences, and conduct exploratory and formal investigations, to develop their own explanations about scientific phenomena. Students are given opportunities to represent and re-represent their developing understanding using literacy skills. They are actively engaged in the learning process. Students develop science inquiry skills and an understanding of the nature of science.

Teaching and learning progress through five phases: Engage, Explore, Explain, Elaborate, and Evaluate. The phases of the Primary Connections 5E teaching and learning model are based on the 5Es instructional model 

The 5Es

 • Engage - 

students come across the material, define their questions, do the basic work for their classwork, make connections between new and known ideas, identify the relevant practices from their daily life. 

• Explore - 

students directly involved with the material, go through the learning process to solve the problems. They work in a team to share their knowledge. 

• Explain – 

the student gets an opportunity to explain the learned concepts such as discoveries, processes, and ideas by written/ verbal assignments or through creative writing/ projects. The teacher supplies material, books/ resources, gives feedback, enhances vocabulary, and clarifies misconceptions/wrong points if any. 

• Elaborate – 

The teachers can enhance students’ knowledge with the help of other examples and expand their knowledge by explaining similar concepts and asking them to apply them to other situations. The learning of the new concepts also raises questions relating to other concepts (lead to new inquiry). 

• Evaluate – 

Evaluation of learning is an ongoing (continuous) process. Both teacher and learner check the understanding of the concepts. Different evaluation techniques can be used such as rubrics, checklists, teacher interviews, portfolios, problem-based learning outputs, and assessments results. Results are used to evaluate the students’ progress and to modify instructional needs in the future.

Lesson Model Comparison

    The 5E and Madeline Hunter lesson plans are both similar and different from each other. I think both lesson plans give teachers an adequate outlook on what to teach and what the students should know after a lesson. Also, both lesson plans allow a decent amount of student-centered learning.  One of the main differences I noticed is how the Madeline Hunter plan requires the teacher to think about teaching to different learning styles. During “modeling” and “re-teach”, the teacher must find ways that all students will make connections.  In the 5E lesson plan, I wrote, one can notice how I explain the components of the lesson on the whiteboard. In the Madeline Hunter lesson plan, I wrote, I not only explain the components on the whiteboard, but I also include visuals including at-chart, animated pictures, and video clips (during “modeling”). During “re-teach”, I decided to add an audiobook for my audio learners. The Madeline Hunter lesson plan made me think of more ways to teach my explanation and gave me a chance to “re-teach” the students.  On the other hand, the 5E model does not require the teacher to think about “all learners'' and does not require the teacher to “re-teach” to the students who need more instruction. In addition, in the Madeline Hunter lesson plan, students are taught by “modeling” before independent practice. Thus, giving the students a background before they go explore on their own. In the 5E lesson plan, students explore before being taught. The 5E lesson plan requires students to make their own connections before having any prior instruction or background. Ultimately, both lesson plans can be utilized to engage and assess student learning, but the Madeline Hunter plan reinforces the objective more than the 5E plan, which can be very beneficial for different types of students.

      I think the Madeline Hunter lesson plan best aligns with my views of teaching. I believe many students use a cluster of different learning styles. No student should be labeled as just a visual, auditory, or kinesthetic learner. Learning styles are also subject to change. This means a teacher should be prepared to target all the different learning styles in every lesson. The Madeline Hunter lesson plan requires the teacher to think about how “all learners” can make connections. I love how the Madeline Hunter lesson gives the teacher a chance to “re-teach” the students who have not made appropriate connections.  I also feel that giving the students background before they explore narrows down the connections the students might make about an activity. The students have an idea of what they will be looking for. Considering what I have mustered, the Madeline Hunter lesson plan makes me feel more comfortable and confident with my teaching because I know after the lesson, I will have taught to “all learners” and to the students that did not understand.

AIOU Solved Assignment 1 and 2 Code 8601 Autumn and Spring

AIOU B. Ed General Methods of Teaching (8601) | Solved Assignment 1. 
Q.3
Why is outlining of goals/objectives necessary before planning a lesson? 

A lesson plan is a detailed plan of the objectives and activities for a particular class. It is an important part of the teaching and learning process. A lesson plan reflects what a teacher wants to achieve in each class and how it will be achieved? Planning a lesson helps a teacher to control class time and its effective use. A teacher’s effectiveness is usually judged by the ability to design and implement instruction that promotes learning. 

Teaching goals, objectives, teaching methods and assessment forms all come together in a lesson plan, which ideally facilitates student learning. A good lesson plan contains the description and application of the instructional methods being used in a particular class to meet the needs of different learners. At the end of the lesson, the teacher evaluates how effective the plan was and makes any additions or revisions for future use. The lesson plans vary in degree of detail. Some teachers write only a few notes of the plan, while others carefully write the details of each step of the plan. The teachers discover the system that works best with them.

Setting clear lesson goals

Setting goals is how you guide yourself down your intended path. Having objectives in mind provides a way to align your actions in service of those big-picture targets.

Sure, you can keep things moving day-to-day without a long-term strategy.  But without larger goals, you’ll find yourself standing in the same spot months down the line.

This is why lesson goals in the classroom are so important. They are your veritable north star for teaching, guiding every session with your students.

Your lesson goals should clearly define the ‘why’ behind your teaching so that everyone understands the reasons for learning a given subject.

Without these goals in place, you risk a lack of focus in the classroom and you won’t have a way to measure successes and failures for your lesson plans.

Importance of defining goals before lectures

A lesson plan is a road map of the instructions. It shows what will be taught and how it will be done effectively during class time. Teachers require a lesson plan to describe their course of instruction for one class. The lesson plan is necessary to guide the instruction. A lesson plan is required to describe the preferences of the subject being covered, activities being held in the class, and to ensure the progress of the students about the lesson being taught to them. A well-developed lesson plan reflects the interests and needs of students. It contains the objectives of the lesson formulated in behavioral terms (indicate the change in behavior). The best and appropriate practices of teaching methodology and techniques to achieve the objectives are included in the lesson plan. The content to be covered in a class is indicated in a lesson plan. The evaluation procedures are also included in the lesson plan. Lesson planning is beneficial for the teacher in many ways; such as: 

• It helps in achieving goals and objectives, and the same can be said on the part of the students. 

• It helps to get rid of problems or avoid them. 

• It gives a reality check of everyday performance. 

• It improves the habits and attitudes of the students. 

• It improves teaching skills. 

• It makes teaching ordinary and easy. 

• It makes the teacher organized during teaching. 

• Lesson planning determines when to include the interesting facts to attract the students’ attention. 

• It enables the teacher to impart the things the students can do to the best of their abilities.

How To Set Effective Lesson Goals?

1. Ask Yourself Pointed Questions

Your lesson goals should outline what your students will ideally be able to accomplish once the lesson is completed. In order to understand what these goals might look like, ask yourself some key questions, like:

• What will students accomplish during this lesson?

• What does success look like to me?

• IE: To what specific level will the students perform a given task in order for the lesson to be considered accomplished?

• How will the students show that they understood and learned the goals of your lesson?

Beginning with these questions will set the stage for some of your goals and can inform your metrics (more on that later).

2. Frame Your Goals With A Growth Mindset

A growth mindset focuses on effort as the core factor behind learning. When your classroom takes this approach, they believe their abilities can change as a result of effort, perseverance, and practice.

All of your lesson goals need to be formulated with a growth mindset framework. This means:

• Stating the goal in a positive way. Ex:

• “We will learn to ….”

• “We will be able to …”

• “We will succeed in …”

• Ensuring it’s challenging but also achievable.

• Including growth in a capacity or skill set.

• Adhering to overall learning values.

• Taking barriers or potential challenges into account.

Following the above criteria forces you to create a goal that is centered around a growth mindset.

3. Set Metrics

Lesson goals help you measure whether or not you are achieving your learning objectives through set metrics. Metrics should be set up in a way that makes it easy to identify whether or not goals are being met.

If your core lesson goal is for the entire class to learn the members of each food group, your metrics would be based on how many foods and groups your class can identify. You can then set milestones within certain timeframes.

For example, I expect the classroom to be able to identify the five food groups independently by week two.

4. Communicate These Goals With Your Students

Once you have decided what your goal is going to be, it’s time to communicate it to your classroom. It’s important for everyone to understand what you’re working towards, that way your students can aim for the finish line together.

Depending on your class dynamic, it might be a good exercise to turn this into a lesson in itself. Gather your class and ask them thought-provoking questions about the goals you’ve set, such as:

• How do you see us reaching this goal?

• Where can you see problems coming up?

• How can we work through those issues together?

• What will it look like when you achieve this goal?

Having a class discussion about these things can lead to increased engagement with your objective. When students are asked their opinions on a goal, they tend to feel more connected to it.

5. Reflect On The Process

You should look back on every lesson goal and ask yourself what worked, what didn’t, and how you plan to change moving forward.

It’s common to either set lesson goals that are too ambitious or not ambitious enough. Use your reflection time to decide if you need to dial-up or dial down. This can also be a good time to elicit more class participation. Ask your students how they felt about the goal and use their feedback to shape your future goal-setting.

Process of lesson planning 

First of all, a teacher needs to identify the learning objectives for the class, then design appropriate learning activities and develop strategies to obtain feedback on student learning. A successful lesson plan addresses and integrates these three key components: 

• Objectives for student learning 

• Teaching/learning activities 

• Strategies to check student understanding Objectives specified for student learning help in determining the kinds of teaching and learning activities to be used in class. These activities will define the achievements of learning objectives. 

Detailed planning of a lesson is emphasized through the following stages: 

• Pre-Planning Stage 

• The Post-Planning Stage

Pre-Planning Stage 

Before teaching the teacher has to think about the lesson plan for a particular class. The Center of Excellence in Teaching (1999) recommends that the answers to the following questions may help the teachers to proceed with effective planning: - What are my objectives for this class? Objectives are the statements of what the teacher wants students to learn. The objectives are most likely to be the same, or close to, the goals outlined during course planning. These are specific for a particular class. - What are the objectives for this class? Objectives are the specific goal statements written in behavioral terms. They state exactly what the students should be able to do, in a class/ on a paper/ in an exam, etc. Objectives also specify the conditions under which the students should learn the material. - Why is this material important? The teacher thinks about the importance of the skills or knowledge being taught to the students. - What content will be covered in the particular class? Statement of the rationale (logical reasoning) will help the teachers to decide What content needs to be conveyed? Or What will students need to know to meet the goals and objectives laid down in the course? Or What content is most essential for them to understand?

The Post-Planning Stage

The teacher’s lesson planning process should take into consideration the need to assess whether students have learned? How effective was the lesson? This assessment is not a complicated or difficult task. It is very simple and informal. For instance, using part of the class to let students work on problems you have given them, or discuss issues and apply concepts, can give you a good sense of what and how much they have learned. The one-minute writing about the lesson or homework problems can be similarly helpful.