Small Teaching: Everyday Lessons from the Science of Learning

by James M. Lang

Teachers (and students and parents) typically think about tests as a means to measure student learning. But tests, thought about in the most general way possible, are actually memory exercises.

Frequency Matters

Give frequent, low-stakes quizzes (at least weekly) to help your students seal up foundational course content;

Close class by asking students to write down the most important concept from that day and one question or confusion that still remains in their minds (i.e., the minute paper).

If you want to help direct students toward the type of learning that will serve them well on the major assessments for the course, the same question format should be used for both pretests and full-length assessments.