Why do Cross and Angelo advocate that CATs be un-graded and anonymous?
Generally following a learning activity (lecture, reading assignment, group activity, guided practice, etc.), a CAT is designed to inform the teacher about his students’ learning. The SOLE purpose of the CAT is to improve student learning by first determining whether and to what degree students learned whatever was expected. Using a graded assignment defeats the purpose of the CAT in that the grade itself sends students the message that learning is complete – whether it’s true or not, most students believe that there is no opportunity for improvement once a grade has been assigned. Even if there is such an opportunity, once a grade has been assigned, the focus naturally shifts to improving the grade, not the learning.
