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Formative Assessment
Formative assessment occurs during the learning process. It is any method we may use to evaluate a student’s progress toward learning outcomes. Formative assessment is often used simultaneously with the term “low-stakes assessment,” such as practice assignments, quizzes, in-class monitoring, drafts, or others ways that we make sure students understand the material prior to any major, summative assessment.
Formative assessments should be used frequently and strategically throughout a course to measure student progress and provide opportunities for students to self-correct, reach out for assistance, or adapt learning strategies. Instructors also use formative assessments as opportunities to initiate student outreach, provide additional scaffolding, modeling, or strategies, and reevaluate instructional methods and practices.
Ideally, formative assessments should align with specific learning outcomes and model the expectations for student success. At least some of the formative assessments used should mimic the format of any benchmark, summative assessments for the course.
Summative Assessment
Summative assessment is a graded method of evaluating student progress toward stated learning outcomes at the conclusion of a unit, module, or completed lesson. Summative assessments occur after formative assessments and are often high-stakes.
Summative assessments generally meet 3 criteria:
- They determine whether or not the students meet the learning outcomes.
- They are evaluative, instead of diagnostic, because they occur after information has been taught and a unit or module is completed.
- They are counted towards a student’s final grade.
Summative assessments may be exams, module tests, projects, speeches, or other means of major assessment.
Frequent, Low-Stakes Assessment
It is important for students to receive early, frequent assessments that prepare them for the expectations on major assessments. These formative assessments should be low-stakes, meaning they count for a low grade percentage, or they can be just for practice. Such assessments may come in a variety of formats, such as quizzes, discussions, seminars, drafts, group work, speeches, application assignments, or practice exams.
Provide students with timely and thorough feedback on these formative assessments to help them improve and prepare for the summative assessments in the course.
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