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Student Preparedness

Assessing the Impact of Remote Learning on Students’ Preparedness & Progress

Are you wondering whether students are adequately prepared to start your course or meet program milestones?

The COVID-19 pandemic and social upheaval have influenced students’ learning contexts and contributed toward uncertainties related to the knowledge, skills, and experiences students have acquired. This resource includes feasible practices for instructors and programs to diagnose any gaps in preparation, point students to useful resources, and make informed decisions about course design, instruction, and program milestones.

Understand Students’ Preparation for Your Course

  • Determine whether new undergraduate, graduate, or professional students are adequately prepared.
  • Determine whether students have the requisite knowledge and skills from earlier courses (for both multi-course sequences like language, math, writing, or introductory science as well as advanced courses that require introductory knowledge and skills).

Before Your Course Begins

Administer a Pre-course Quiz or Paper

  • Identify the background knowledge or skills students need to begin your course. Design a quiz or paper that tests their knowledge or skills in relevant areas. (These should be ungraded and for diagnostic purposes only).

Administer a Prior Knowledge Self-assessment

  • Ask students to complete a questionnaire that allows them to share their level of familiarity or experience related to the knowledge or skills required to begin your course.

Direct Students to Supplemental Materials

  • Based on the above results, recommend useful materials for students to address any gaps before your course begins.

The First Week of Your Course

Get immediate feedback during the first class meeting by using the following Classroom Assessment Techniques (CATs): (These can be administered asynchronously or synchronously.)

Background Knowledge Probes

  • Ask students to complete a short, openended questionnaire that elicits their current understanding or skill levels.

Misconception/Preconception Checks

  • Ask students to complete a short, openended questionnaire that uncovers any prior knowledge, beliefs, and attitudes that may be incomplete.

Muddiest Point

  • Ask students to briefly write about or post any confusing aspects of introductory course content.

Understand Students’ Experiences in Specialized Learning Contexts

Laboratories, Studios, Performance Spaces, Clinical Settings, or Simulations

Administer a Pre-course Self-assessment

Before your course begins, ask students to complete a brief questionnaire that allows them to share their perceptions related to the following:

  • Previous access to, familiarity with, and learning from specialized contexts
  • The extent that no or limited access to specialized contexts has delayed their work (e.g., research, milestone achievement)
  • The extent that a lack of in-person convenings has resulted in more limited opportunities for students to present their work at conferences, recitals, or other performances. Students may not have gained as much experience presenting to a live audience or receiving and responding to real-time feedback.
  • For classes that involve team-based learning, determine whether remote learning has influenced students’ team processes and outcomes.

Will your program require particular milestones during the academic year?

Capstone Projects, Qualifying Exams, Research Proposals

Use Any Existing Evidence of Students’ Progress

  • If students’ advanced-level course assignments, projects, or proposals were already evaluated by your program, use that evidence to understand students’ preparedness for any next milestones.

Consider What Students Are Able to Do to Prepare

  • Many students cannot access their same strategies to prepare for important milestones (e.g., in-person study groups, quiet spaces, physical spaces including laboratories, studios, performance spaces, or clinical settings). Are expectations around preparing for milestones clear? Do students have appropriate support to meet the milestones as stated? Determine any student concerns and co-construct strategies for them to best prepare and execute upcoming milestones.

Examine the Design and Timing of Your Program Milestones

  • Consider the milestone itself. Are there additional resources, including time, that may be offered? Does anything about the milestone need to be adjusted or modified (such as timing, deadlines, or the nature of the milestone or assessment)?