The KWL: Know, Wonder, Learn strategy is an activity that teachers can use at the beginning of a new unit or topic to pre-assess students on what prior knowledge students already have, but it can also be a powerful self-assessment tool for students to use to identify what they do and do not know.

For example, in the BC Biology 12 course, the majority of the course focuses on cell and human biology, which is a topic that students are briefly introduced to in grades 8 and 9. Prior to starting each new topic, a KWL can be assigned to the students to pre-assess the students on what they still remember. This is an effective tool because a lot of students will remember pieces of information from their previous classes, but it is difficult for them to concretely gauge the level at which they still understand the material without actually applying it.

The KWL can be modified to have specific guiding questions in the Know  section so that the students will be more likely to record as much as they can remember. The students can then compare what they currently remember or know to the learning outcomes of the topic or unit.