You can't learn to swim in the library. You have to jump in the water to train. Likewise, your students deserve the opportunity to practice what you teach them and test their skills. Allowing students to practice through activities and assess their learning through assessments promotes a great learning experience.
Assessments and practice activities
- Hands-on activities are guided experiences where students put into practice what they have learned. These activities should be relevant and authentic to your course material; they should reflect practical, real-world experience of your course topics.
- Assessments are a way for students to demonstrate that they have achieved the learning objectives of the course. Assessments are a very useful tool for them to check their progress and understand which concepts of the course they need to practice more.
Although G-Talent courses do not require practice assignments or quizzes, their inclusion can enhance the quality of the course and often improve student satisfaction and course grades. We recommend mixing practice activities and assessments into your courses.
Planning practical activities
A good practice we recommend is to include at least one practical activity in each section. Include activities that are most appropriate for the context you are teaching in individual lesson sections. There is no need to group activities at the end of each section.
Add clear names to practice activities so students can easily identify them. Consistently label your activities throughout the course to set student expectations.
General guidelines for creating practice material
- Instructions: Give students clear instructions. You can include both text and video instructions. Describe the activity, the value of the activity, the tasks students will complete, the expected outcome of the activity, and a list of materials needed to complete the activity.
- Duration: Tell students how long the activity will take to complete. Do this step yourself, remembering that students may need double or triple the time.
- Example: Provide an example. If you provide an example solution, students will be able to evaluate your work by comparing it to the example.
- Materials: Provide students with space to work and make it easy to complete the activities. You can provide them with templates, practice sheets, or a presentation environment.
- Feedback: Ensure that students receive feedback. Encourage community development and constructive peer feedback. Provide students with a checklist of criteria for quality work. This will lead to more peer feedback and better instruction.
Types of practical activities you can create
Assignments
Assignments are activities that allow students to assess their own work by comparing their answers to questions with yours. It's a great way to ask about case studies, have students react to different situations, or spot and correct errors.
Coding practice
Coding exercises are interactive activities that you can add to your coding courses and integrate into G-Talent to give students hands-on coding experience. Students can enter code and perform functions directly on the page without switching programs or screens. Exercises also include hints so students can fix mistakes and continue coding.
Downloadable materials
Adding links to downloadable materials and courses is a great way to share hands-on activities through worksheets, templates, demo environments, and references.
General guidelines for creating ratings
- Formative assessment takes place throughout the course. Students can use these assessments to evaluate their level of understanding of the course topics and review previous lessons if necessary. An example of formative assessment would be a quiz at the end of the course.
- At the end of the course, a summative assessment is conducted to evaluate whether students have achieved the learning objectives. An example of a summative assessment would be a mock exam at the end of the course.
When planning lessons, consider key concepts and points from the lesson that would be useful for students to test their knowledge through formative assessment and analyze how well they have achieved the learning objectives through summative assessment.
Types of assessments you can create
Questionnaires
Multiple choice quizzes are ideal for fact-based lessons. They are a great way to quickly check that students understand what you are teaching or to help them retain knowledge. You can add a short list of questions between lessons to reinforce learning and improve retention.
Practice Test
Practice exams are longer and more comprehensive than tests. These tests are timed and graded upon completion. Practice exams are helpful if you want to prepare students for final exams. So make it a realistic exam experience. Use question types, length, and requirements similar to the actual exam a student takes, such as the TOEFL or another certification exam.
Final work
Capstone projects are projects that students must complete at the end of the course to put into practice the knowledge and skills they have learned by creating something like a web application or presentation. During the course, you can guide students through creating a master project, or provide tips and guidance at the end so that students can create their own.
Try to make the final project a real-life experience that reflects what students might do in a real-life situation. Encourage students to share their final projects in an online portfolio so others can see their work and you can provide feedback.
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