March 30, 2009
Mental model conference presentation
I presented the idea of applying card sorts for assessing students’ mental models at The Teaching Professor conference in Orlando, May 2008. The concept is that card sorts can be used for a quick check of how well students are packaging the course material, and it can also be used for more in-depth analysis for serious assessment purposes. The beauty of using card sorts is that you find out where students are coming from – you really need to get their picture and slant on things rather than seeing how much they’ve memorized for an exam. It’s a powerful complement to traditional assessment techniques.
