My post on using mental tests for revision seems to have interested many readers so I thought I would follow this up. Having looked back in time to GCSE many years ago when an aural test was actually part of the exam (10%) I shall in future refer to these as Aural Tests. It was these tests that started me using the idea of an aural test on anything any time! They can be short and make ideal starters or plenaries or in the case of revision aural tests can last a lesson with lots of associated questions and discussion.

Looking through some old resources I came across a cassette (!) recording of myself reading the questions for a GCSE aural test I recorded for a correspondence college. I intend to transcribe that and will write a post on these old style tests in the near future.

Having successfully given my Year 13 students two aural tests on the Pure Mathematics C3 and C4 modules (after the first they requested the second) my wonderful colleague who teaches the group with me joined in the venture and gave them a third aural test on their  Statistics module. We and our students feel we have done some really useful revision in their last lessons for all three modules on their Advanced Level course.

So this week I have my last lessons with Year 11 (UK age 15-16) who are preparing for their GCSE. I want to look at their Statistics unit with them and have decided that an aural test should work well. Looking at various papers I have extracted some diagrams and asked questions around those. These are topics that I feel my particular class needs; I want to review various statistical diagrams. In case this is of interest I have made all the resources available here. Students need the answer sheet only. The teacher reads the questions and they have to listen very carefully and answer the questions. They will need to write answers in their exercise books or on paper as well as using the answer sheet. With these longer revision aural tests it is sometimes appropriate to give feedback after each question as opposed to waiting till the end to mark all questions. I use both techniques.

Creating the solutions reminded me once again of how useful colour can be to make solutions clear.

I would be interested to hear from teachers who try aural tests with their students; I find them useful for all ages.