Description
Exit cards require learners to respond to questions or prompts on a piece of paper that they will pass into you before they leave class. These cards provide you with instant information that you can utilize to assess learners’ comprehension, monitor their questions, or gather feedback on your teaching. For learners, exit cards serve as a content review at the end of a daily learning activity and enhance their metacognitive skills.
Implementation
- Prepare: Learners must have a pencil and paper. Instructors can prepare half-slips of paper with typed questions or write questions on the board for learners to answer.
- Learners Respond to Prompt: Often, instructors have learners complete finish cards in the final five minutes of the class. Since exit cards must be turned in by learners, the questions or prompts must be specific and brief. They typically refer to the content that was being learned, but they can also be general, such as the following:
- List three things you learned in class today.
- What questions, ideas, and feelings did this learning activity raise for you?
- What was your favorite moment of class? Why? What was your least favorite part of the class?
- Assess your participation level in class today. What did you do well, and what would you do differently?
- Exit cards can be formatted utilizing the 3-2-1 format. Depending on the purpose of having learners complete exit cards, instructors may have learners complete them anonymously.
- Reinforce Accountability: Learners may leave class when they turn in an exit card to the instructor.
Modifications
- Share the Results: It is often proper to share your findings from the exit cards with learners at the beginning of the next lesson. For instance, you could mention that many learners asked similar questions, so you will make sure to address these questions in subsequent lessons. Sometimes, instructors type up the results of the exit cards (without names) and have learners respond to these comments as a warm-up during the next learning experience. Letting learners know that you have read their ideas and have utilized them to inform your teaching decisions helps build a classroom culture of respect and trust.
