Immediate Feedback Assessment Technique
The Immediate Feedback Assessment Technique or IF-AT has deep roots not only in team-based learning, but also in other types of formative assessment. The IF-AT technique enables individuals or teams to receive immediate feedback whether their answers to multiple-choice questions are correct or not. Students and teams can progressively revise their thinking in order to identify the correct answer.
History
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IF-AT forms were developed by Dr. Mike Epstein and Mrs. Beth Epstein during a “grouching session” discussing how “multiple choice tests were not sensitive enough to reward a student who was able to eliminate all but two responses” (Epstein Educational Enterprises, 2018). Their ideas and research evolved into the IF-AT assessment method.
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In 2022, CognaLearn licensed the IF-AT from Dr. Mike Epstein to offer a full spectrum of print and digital tools to educators.
How it works
IF-AT forms use a multiple-choice answer form with a thin opaque film covering the answer options. Each student scratches off an answer as if they are scratching a lottery ticket. They scratch off the coating of the rectangle corresponding with their first-choice answer. If the answer is correct, a star symbol appears somewhere within the rectangle indicating the answer is correct. The student’s learning is immediately reinforced, the student receives full credit for the answer, and moves on to the next question.
If incorrect, they must re-read the question and remaining answer options and scratch off until they arrive at the correct answer. The student will earn partial credit for multiple attempts and learn the correct response for each question while taking the test.
Key Benefits
Order now
The IF-AT forms can currently be ordered in a length of 10, 25, or 50 questions with four or five answer choices. The answers are pre-populated and the instructor is given the key. Instructors simply need to create a multiple-choice assessment prior to class with the correct answers corresponding to the pre-populated IF-AT key. Cards come in bundles of 125, and a total of four answer keys will be provided per order. You can either use the same answer key for the whole class or you can mix cards from different bundles, thus providing different versions of an assessment.