Card sorts
As discussed on the Eliciting Models page, the card sort is an excellent method for peering inside people’s minds to see how they structure their knowledge about a certain subject. Traditional exams force students to answer questions based on the instructor’s outline and format. The more you can let the learner do the talking and revealing, the more accurate a picture can be obtained of how they perceive things. This is highly useful for informing instruction. Though there are a variety of ways to accomplish this, the card sort is easy to design (easier than writing an exam!), easy to implement, and easy to analyze for quick feedback. It can also be analyzed in depth with more sophisticated quantitative methods if desired. I’ve included some information on how to design, implement, and analyze sort exercises based on what I’ve discovered and tried myself.
