Innovation and creativity in teaching psychometrics
The future is already here: a smart application adapts personal practice to each student, and a workshop for creating psychometric questions develops creativity
Starting in the summer of 16', my students SAT Course of High Q, which has always been based on fun and creative learning with advanced technology, enjoy two revolutionary innovations:
(1) a YouDo application that adapts personal practice to each student according to his progress in the course, and (2) a MasterClass workshop in which the student learns to create psychometric questions himself.
So what is it and how does it work?
YouDo application
Each student is first of all a unique human being, with different and changing learning abilities and needs - hence the great importance in adapting the nature of the study to each student personally, and every day anew. Above all, it is important not to be satisfied with a uniform practice for all students (as is customary in schools and universities), but to adapt to each student personal practice according to his needs. The great news about the YouDo application is its ability to do this successfully and accurately than ever before. How It Works?
1. In each class lesson, short exercises are conducted to verify the understanding of the material studied in each subject
2. The answers to the practice questions are entered by the student into the YouDo mobile application
3. The application analyzes the student's strong and weak points in each subject, and based on them builds the ideal practice for him at this point in time
4. At the end of the lesson, each student receives personal homework, which combines classic practice of solving questions and advanced practice in the various High Q applications
For example: a student who has difficulty in mathematics but is fluent in English - will receive comprehensive and in-depth mathematical practice, and in English a more limited practice, adapted to his high level (alternatively, an English study course is an effective solution for those who have difficulty with the language). But the matching is also done at a higher resolution: let's take a specific subject like calculating an average: one student had difficulty with average questions that include vanishings, and another had difficulty with weighted average questions. As a result, each student will mainly practice the elements he had difficulty with, and will not waste precious time practicing elements he has mastered. Adjustment is made anew in each class, according to the student's progress in each subject. It sounds so simple and natural that it is a little difficult to understand how it is possible to learn otherwise.
MasterClass workshop
One of the most important trends in the world of teaching in recent years is the transition from passive to active learning, that is, making the student more and more involved in the process. Such learning has been proven to be more effective and enjoyable, to stimulate thinking, develop creativity, increase motivation, encourage taking responsibility, and contribute greatly to the understanding of the material.
In the MasterClass workshop, the student learns to create various psychometric questions by himself. The creation is done in stages and under the close guidance of High Q teachers, in a playful atmosphere that encourages creativity, combining individual and group work. As a unique expression of active psychometric learning, the workshop succeeds in turning "dry" subjects such as algebra and reading comprehension into a fascinating and entertaining challenge - a significant achievement in itself!
Beyond that, the workshop has a significant added value for the student - making him a more efficient examinee. As you know, in psychometrics a central emphasis is placed on efficiency, with each question being given an average of less than a minute! That is, the ability to solve questions correctly is a necessary condition for success, but not sufficient: it is also important to solve quickly. Saving only 10 seconds per question can lead to an improvement of over 100 points in the score! Efficiency can be improved mainly by:
1. Faster understanding of the essence of the question
2. Use of creative solutions
Quickly understanding a psychometric question is not a simple task: the topics are many and varied and most of the questions are not classified according to them, some of the questions have long and complex wording on purpose, and in general the test is long and tedious, and includes over 170 questions! Experience in creating questions, and their "behind the scenes" experience, develop in the student a more active approach to reading the question. In this way, he recognizes the underlying logic more quickly, separates the essential from the insipid, and maintains a higher level of concentration while reading.
Good and efficient techniques for solving test questions are taught during the course, but some questions can be solved faster with a slight change in one of the techniques, or a creative combination of several different techniques. Such a creative use of techniques has infinite possibilities - a welcome thing, but impossible to learn in a traditional way (it is impossible to remember infinite variations). In the MasterClass workshop, the student "attacks" a psychometric question from different directions, creates several variations for each question, and sees how each change in wording affects the solution. That experience develops his ability to creatively use the solution techniques during the test, thus saving more valuable time.
Technology-based personalization, and active and fun learning are undoubtedly the future of the teaching world, but you can enjoy them already in the present!
Successfully!
