Formative & Summative Assessment

By using a combination of formative and summative assessments, instructors can ensure that students are meeting both the course objectives (systemic) and measurable learning outcomes  (systematic). Whether the data is collected throughout the course or at intervals, the information provides the instructor a clear picture of where the students are at day to day in understanding the content and to what extent they have mastered the content. This information is then used to help the instructor adapt, modify, and/or create content that will help students succeed in the course. But first, let's define what encompasses formative and summative assessment. The key difference between the two is the purpose that they serve in classroom and institution. Yale's Poorvu Center for Teaching and Learning define formative and summative assessment as follows: 

• "Formative assessment refers to tools that identify misconceptions, struggles, and learning gaps along the way and assess how to close those gaps. It includes effective tools for helping to shape learning, and can even bolster students’ abilities to take ownership of their learning when they understand that the goal is to improve learning, not apply final marks (Trumbull and Lash, 2013). It can include students assessing themselves, peers, or even the instructor, through writing, quizzes, conversation, and more. In short, formative assessment occurs throughout a class or course, and seeks to improve student achievement of learning objectives through approaches that can support specific student needs (Theal and Franklin, 2010, p. 151)."

• "Summative assessments evaluate student learning, knowledge, proficiency, or success at the conclusion of an instructional period, like a unit, course, or program. Summative assessments are almost always formally graded and often heavily weighted (though they do not need to be). Summative assessment can be used to great effect in conjunction and alignment with formative assessment, and instructors can consider a variety of ways to combine these approaches."