10 Simple Ways To Check For Understanding

Tasks for students:

1. Dos & Don’ts

List 3 Dos and 3 Don’ts when using, applying, relating to the content (e.g., 3 Dos and Don’ts for writing a business letter).

2. Yes/No Chart

List what you do and don’t understand about a given topic - what you do on the left, what you don’t on the right (overly-vague responses don’t count).

3. New Clothes

Take a given topic and describe how it can be used in some way other than how you’ve been taught.

4. Three Most Common Misunderstandings

List what you think might be the three most common misunderstandings of a given topic based on an audience of your peers.

5. Explain What Matters

Explain the most important part of a given topic to a self-selected audience (must clarify) in fewer sentences.

6. Big Picture

Diagram the context – where does it fit in and how does it function in its natural “bigger picture.” This is good for abstract or right-brain thinkers.

7. Venn Diagram

Compare a given topic to a tangent topic.

8. Self-Directed Response

Prove to me you understand in diagram, written, or related form in a way that a stranger would understand.

9. Draw It

Draw what you do understand.

10. Three Questions

Ask three questions about the topic, then rank them in terms of their importance/value.