I’m presenting mental models/card sorts at AECT

I’ll be presenting the idea of using card sorts for assessing students’ mental models at the AECT conference in Louisville this October. I did this last year at the Teaching Professor Conference in Orlando, and the concept is that card sorts can be used for a quick check of how well students are packaging the course material. It can also be used for more in-depth analysis for serious assessment purposes at the class or program/department level. 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 – and it’s easy to do. I’ve used this technique in a variety of academic fields including recording engineering, music history, and physical therapy. If you are coming to AECT drop by and join the conversation. Meantime, you can find out more at my mental model assessment website.