The remediation of a test depends on whether it is concepts or skills that are being tested.  In both cases, however, remediation will consist of two phases. The first is a discovery phase, in which a student investigates his mistakes, tries to understand why he made them, and learns the correct concept or skill.  Once that is accomplished, the student will engage in an articulation phase, in which he expresses what he has learned.

Both phases of remediation can take many shapes.  They can be written or oral, done alone or in a group, at home or in class.  You can be directly involved or completely uninvolved. For instance, if a student is working on improving a certain skill, he can do practice work and turn it in, or you can have him practice and then do some problems in your presence so you can offer him guidance and ask questions that will help him learn about the skill more deeply.

Whatever form of remediation you design, the principle goal is to reduce the hurdles facing a student in learning from his mistakes.  The process should be relatively straightforward and as painless as possible. For instance, when a student suffers from test anxiety, making the remediation process feel less like taking a test is important.  That may mean that the student can ask you questions while going through the process or that he can do the assessment without any time constraints. Conversation with the student about how the process feels is a good way to learn about how effective it is for him.

The next two sections describe methods of remediation for skills and concepts.