Bump+in+the+Road

 Bump in the Road is a formative assessment that can fit into a few seconds of extra time or can be expanded to fit into an organized class discussion. Bump in the Road is done by having the students write down on a paper a concept from the lesson that is confusing or is not quite clear to them. Papers can be gathered for the teacher to assessment and used to clear up any misconceptions, or the teacher can group the students together and have them discuss the muddy concept with other students to clear up their misunderstanding.
 * Explanation **

When students are discussing their misconception, the teacher can visit each group and assess whether the correct information is being discussed. By discussing the information in a group, the teacher can make sure larger groups are receiving and analyzing the information and support students on the way to higher-order learning techniques such as understanding, analyzing, and then creating their own opinions or thoughts regarding what the teacher has introduced.

This is a good strategy for almost any information from basic fact to a lengthy discussion on science procedures, or a discussion using logical reasoning techniques. Being able to write their confusing concepts on paper instead of asking questions in front of the whole class, and seeing that others in the class may have the same misconceptions that they do, will help create an environment where students are more apt to feel like sharing their thoughts.

**Assessment during learning. ** Bump in the Road is a formative assessment for current learning and not for pre-assessment or post-assessment sumative tests. Although it isn't designed for pre-assessment or post-assessment, Bump in the Road is a quick and easy way to assess whether the information in your lesson is getting across to the students and this formative assessment technique is easily expanded to create activities for understanding, analyzing or creating knowledge to help the student along the ladder of Bloom's Taxonomy.

Bump in the Road assessment papers would be a good way to start a class discussion to focus on the misconceptions that needs to be corrected before the lesson proceeds. It creates a safe environment for students who are too shy to speak up. Being able to assess the whole class is such a short time gives the teacher a more valid assessment than simply checking one or two students for any misconceptions.

Dalene Burch