For assessment to be worthwhile, it needs to focus on improving student learning as the goal, so assessment tools should primarily be formative (providing students feedback about their progress) not only summative (evaluating for the purpose of a grade or credential).

Classroom Assessment Techniques (CATs) are quick, easy in-class activities that can serve to check students' understanding or skill level, especially prior to a larger summative assessment, and help students become better learners. CATs reinforce the idea that learning is a process, not a destination, and offer an opportunity for instructors to provide feedback with significantly less effort than a summative assessment and lower stakes/risk for students. CATs are highly customizable so they can be as long or short, fast or slow, surface level or deep as you'd like them to be and are often used as low-stakes building blocks towards summative assessment and/or as a replacement for "attendance" grades that more accurately reflect a student's engagement in class, not just their physical presence!

Thomas Angelo and Patricia Cross have published an excellent resource on Classroom Assessment Techniques: A Handbook for College Teachers (2^nd Edition)* Some examples of CATs include:

Minute Paper: In the last 2-3 minutes of class, students are asked to briefly answer two questions -- "What's the most important thing you learned in class today?" and "What are you still wondering about?" -- which instructors can use to assess students' understanding of key ideas and questions to guide future lessons.
Muddiest Point: More targeted and specific than the Minute Paper, this tool asks students to share their "muddiest point" or the most confusing part of lesson, an assignment instruction, a quiz question, etc. These can be done anonymously so students can report what they are unclear about with risking judgement from peers or their instructor.
Application Cards: Give students a notecard ask them to write down their own unique practical real-world example of how a concept or theory from class could be applied. This helps students connect their learning with experience and provides quick but valuable feedback on their depth of understanding.
Pro-Con Grid: Ideal for course content that is subjective or involves decision making and ethics, this tool asks students to create a quick list of pros and cons about a particular concept, idea, strategy or solution.
Concept Map or Flow Chart: To help students draw connections between ideas or steps in a process, ask students to draft a quick map or chart of the key ideas from a particular lesson or unit.
Invented Dialogue: Ask students to create a conversation between two or more characters about a particular topic (e.g. nurse and patient, mechanic and customer, technician and coworker, etc.) You might even ask students to incorporate specific vocabulary or challenges in their dialogue.

For more examples of CATs, take a look at this CAT Examples page from the WWU Teaching Handbook or check out the physical book in the Teaching and Learning Library, which has DOZENS more ideas of varying lengths and depths.

The Angelo & Cross Classroom Assessment Techniques: A Handbook for College Teachers (2^nd Edition) is available in the Teaching and Learning Library at BTC inside the library on the 3rd floor of Campus Center; you might need to ask a librarian to key you in to the room. You can also access the Teaching and Learning Library through the digital catalog as well.