Informal assessment
One method of assessment that is ongoing is done through daily observations of my students. Quick question and answer sessions, as well as allowing them to teach the solution for a homework problem allows me to determine their level of understanding.
One piece of wisdom I gained from a physics session at the NSTA regional conference in October of 2009, was that the pictures in the heads of the student's don't always match the pictures in my mind! Never was this more evident than when I asked my physics class what they pictured when I said inclined plane. Most were close, but one of my students, an intelligent young man, said "I picture an airplane taking off."
One piece of wisdom I gained from a physics session at the NSTA regional conference in October of 2009, was that the pictures in the heads of the student's don't always match the pictures in my mind! Never was this more evident than when I asked my physics class what they pictured when I said inclined plane. Most were close, but one of my students, an intelligent young man, said "I picture an airplane taking off."