Informal+Checks+for+Understanding

=INFORMAL CHECKS FOR UNDERSTANDING= (p. 234)

The following techniques provide efficient diagnostic and formative checks for student understanding and misconceptions:

Ask students to display a designated hand signal to indicate their understanding of a designated concept, principle, or process.
 * Hand Signals**

Periodically distribute index card and ask students to complete the following: Side 1: Based on our study of (unit topic), list in the form of a summary statement Big Idea that you understand. Side 2: Identify (as a statement or a question) something about (unit topic) that you do not yet fully understand.
 * Index Card Summaries and Questions**

Ask students to create a graphic organizer or drawing to represent key ideas and their relationship. Encourage them to minimize the use of words or labels. Then, have students explain their visual.
 * Think and Draw**

Periodically present students with an analogy prompt:
 * Analogy Prompt**

(design concept, principle, or process) is like __xxxxxxxx__ because __xxxxxxxx__.

[|Web or Concept Map] Ask students to create a web or concept map to show the elements or components of a topic or process. This technique is especially effective in revealing the extent to which students understand the relationships among the elements.

[|One-Minute Essay] Periodically, have students complete a brief essay summarizing what they think they understand about a given topic.

Present students with common or predictable misconceptions about a designated concept, principle, or process. Ask them to agree or disagree and explain their response. (The misconception check can also be presented in the form of a multiple-choice or true-false quiz.)
 * Misconception Check**

Techniques to Check for Understanding ([|PDF] ): This checklist similar to the one above but includes other checks by McTighe and Wiggins.

Source: //Understanding by Design, Professional Development Workbook//. Jay McTighe and Grant Wiggins, 2004.