Some valuable approaches to assessing knowledge of patterns are observation, analysis of student work, individual interviews and group assessment.
It is important for a teacher to know what students are learning as a result of various pattern activities.
Some valuable approaches are detailed below.
- Observation of students' actions in class can give immediate feedback on the success of a particular learning activity.
- Analysis of student work will show what students have learnt through a particular activity.
- Individual interviews can provide supplementary information on the understanding of particular students and may identify the reasons for any difficulties.
- Group assessment can be valuable in summarising what students have learnt from a particular sequence of activities.
Other approaches include asking students, after they have completed a particular activity, to do one or more of the following.
- Summarise what they have learnt.
- Make up similar activities.
- Explain some hypothetical student errors.
- Predict what other students would do if they did not understand the concept well.
