Do you teach carpentry? Perhaps cabinet making? Or CAD? Or another industrial tech classes? In this week’s “I am Naiku” profile, Scott Dobel from Central Springs High School in Manly, IA shares how he has begun to use Naiku in his Industrial Tech classes. The challenges he’s faced when giving tests are unlike what all teachers face. See how’s overcome those challenges with Naiku.
My Name: Scott Dobel
What I Teach: I teach High School Industrial Technology. I teach courses in carpentry, cabinet making, CAD, and industrial technology.
Why I Teach: I can’t sit behind a desk and I love what I do. I want to share my skill set and expose students to what can be done with tools and technology in order to create a project or product. Also, I love introducing the “trades” to those students who are not bound for a 4 year college degree.
How Long I’ve Taught: I have been teaching for 8 years.
Types of Tests I Give: I give a variety of tests. I give formative quizzes that assess safety procedures and tool identification. Some assess the students’ conceptual learning. I also give end-of-chapter tests and semester tests to assess overall learning and for grading purposes.
How I Gave Tests Before Naiku: Before using Naiku, all my tests were given in paper-and-pencil format. I would print out the test for each student and they would answer directly on the test.
Challenges I Face When Giving Tests: My main challenges when giving tests is returning the results in a timely manner and plagiarism. I always want to return the results to the students as soon as possible. At the same time, I always had to worry about plagiarism and cheating.
How I Give Tests Now With Naiku: I now give all my tests online in Naiku. I include multiple-choice, matching, and fill-in-blank questions on my tests. I randomize the question order for each student.
What I Like About Giving Tests In Naiku: All the questions I put in a Naiku test are automatically graded. So the test grades itself. The students get immediate feedback. They know right away what they got right or what they got wrong. This makes my job/life a lot easier.
The Biggest Benefit I Get From Giving Tests In Naiku: The biggest benefit for me is the time savings in grading. I no longer have to hand grade each exam for each student.
What My Students Use To Take Tests In Naiku: My students all use Macbook Air laptops. We are a 1-to-1 school.
What My Students Like About Taking Tests In Naiku: The students love the immediate feedback. However, I’m not sure if they like it all that much, because now it is very hard for them to cheat since I randomize the questions for each student.
How Naiku Has Changed My Teaching: I still teach the same concepts in the exact same way. However, Naiku has now made it easier for me to check for student understanding more often.
Advice For Other Teachers Using Naiku: Don’t be afraid to try it. Depending on your tests, it may take a lot of front load time to input or create your tests into Naiku. But once it is there, you can use it year after year.
If you would like to be included in our “I am Naiku” series and share with other teachers how and why you use Naiku, please send us your responses to these same questions and a picture. We love hearing from you. Thanks!