A Pre- and Post-Test Given to Climate Students to Gauge their Learning

To gauge changes in knowledge over the course of instruction in a Climate and Climate Change, we administered the same test before and after instruction in a Climate and Climate Change course given at Madison Area Technical College. Class instruction was both online and hybrid – mostly online with a single meeting weekly. The class was developed as part of a NASA grant to Madison Area Technical College (NNX11AL99A).

This test had two parts: twenty questions on words and theories that relate to climate and climate change; this was followed by the so-called 'Somerville words', that is scientific words used in describing climate. There were also questions on student background and experience.

The talk will discuss the questions used, the ones that were most and least challenging, and conclude with suggestions for similar assessments.