Today’s post focuses on in-class tools for discovering whether your students have learned what you tried to teach them that day. These tools, collectively referred to as classroom assessment techniques or CATs, are vastly superior to our normal methods for making such assessments, such as drawing inferences from body language, assuming the speaking students represent the entire class, and inferring understanding from an absence of questions.

In the last three minutes of class, pass out index cards and have students explain, in their own words, a key concept covered in class that day, e.g., “Why do bystanders generally have no duty to intervene?” “Under what circumstances do courts impose liability for a promise for which there is no consideration?” “How do lawyers integrate public policy considerations in their legal arguments?” (Prepare a slide in advance with the question to speed along the communication.) Instruct the students NOT to put their names on the cards and explain that you are doing this to improve your teaching, not to assess them.

Alternatively, and to mix things up, you can ask students what confused them most in the class session or ask them to answer a couple of multiple-choice questions.

As class ends, move to the door from which the students will be exiting, and collect the cards. The cards typically can be reviewed in 20-30 minutes, even in a large class. The data will help you know whether most of the students learned most of what you tried to teach them that day. In your next class session or by email you can resolve any confusion or celebrate their success in learning (or even a little of both). As long as you close the loop, the students will see that you are invested in their learning and, because you clarified things, will learn better. And the more frequently you do this, the more you will improve your teaching and your students’ learning.