ABSTRACT
Prior knowledge and achievement are the knowledge, skills, or abilities that the student brings to the learning environment prior to instruction. In the context of instruction, two common conceptions are held. The first, prerequisite knowledge, is knowledge that is necessary to understand the new information. Students lacking this information would not significantly profit from instruction at all (Tobias, 1981). An assessment of this type of prior knowledge can point to where the learner should begin in the instructional sequence.
