A guide to research information with definitions, benefits, classroom strategies and a clear comparison with summary assessment.
Formative assessment is not an event at the end of a week, but an ongoing process. This is gathering evidence about students’ understanding, while learning is still going on, and then taking action. Black and William’s comments on classroom assessment concluded that when teachers use this evidence to adapt to teaching, considerable learning achievements are possible across the level and across the subject.
“All of these activities are evaluated by teachers and their students, and these activities provide information to be used as feedback to modify teaching activities.”
Black & Wiliam, 1998, Educational Assessmentp. 7
definition
Formatological assessment It is the collection of evidence of students’ learning during the teaching process and the use of courses to adjust the teaching process so that students can improve before the end of the learning period.
“Formal feedback is a message conveyed to the learner that is intended to modify his or her thinking or behavior in order to improve learning.”
Shute, 2008, Review of educational researchp. 153
Purpose and benefits
The purpose is to improve rather than judge. The teacher seeks evidence of early understanding and misunderstandings and then responds while still having time to help. exist Visible learningfeedback has the greatest impact on achievement, with the average effect size approaching 0.70, which is much higher than a typical one-year growth.
“Learners must (a) have a concept that is directed to standards, (b) compare actual performance levels to standards, and (c) take appropriate action to lead to gaps filling.”
Sadler, 1989, Teaching Sciencep. 121
Effective use is beneficial to teachers and students. Teachers will get a clearer picture of progress and can adjust pace, grouping and focus. Students learn about the goals and what actions to take next.
Formative and summary assessment
Formal and concluding purposes. Learn in real time by one person. Another proof of what you have learned. They work best together.
| aspect | Formatological assessment | Summary Assessment |
|---|---|---|
| Purpose | Improve learning during learning | Assess what you have learned |
| timing | Teaching is underway | End of unit or term |
| feedback | Focus on the next step now | Usually delay, the focus is on final judgment |
| Use of results | Adjust teaching, restore, expand learning | Assign grades, certification and mastery |
Core Principles
Start with clarity. Students need to see the goals in the language they understand and check the appearance of quality work. Through discussion, observation and analysis, evidence is conducted regularly not only through testing. Given feedback, the name is the next step for learners to take action. Let students directly judge their work based on the criteria and plan what to do next.
“Good feedback practices help articulate good performance, promote the development of self-assessment, and provide students with high-quality information about learning.”
Nicol & MacFarlane-Dick, 2006, Higher Education Researchp. 205
Classroom Strategy
Choose a small number of high-value checks to reveal current understanding. A well-crafted question with Think Time can indicate whether the course is ready for moving. Exit tips can classify replies as ready-made, with little to no, rather than tomorrow’s plan. Sampling students’ work during practice can cause common mistakes and deserve a whole first-class clarification. As Sadler reminds us:
“If students are to be competent evaluators of their work… they need ongoing experience to question and improve the quality of their work and to support the experience of evaluating work, in addition to understanding what is expected and standard for evaluating their standards.”
Sadler, 1989, Teaching Science
Response to evidence
Plan response when planning a check. If many students miss this idea, use short-term class replay. If some people miss it, provide targeted group explanations while others work independently or extend the concept. The revision cycle is established into major tasks, so students take feedback actions before the end of the study period.
“Feedback can only work if the learner gives back the information provided to the learner to improve performance.”
William, 2011, Embedded formative evaluationp. 108
Common traps
Level *everything* is exhausted. This is also overwhelming for you, and so is for students. Restaurants are available for you to choose from.
Checks that collect data without action become busy work and spread the target with many low-yield tips.
High-quality formative assessments are purposeful, brief, and relevant to immediate instructional decisions.
Teacher’s pre-teaching inspection
Can they at least perform their learning goals in student-friendly language?
What is the singlest and most important evidence I have collected today to understand who is ready, who is ready, who has not yet?
Why do you think this is the most important thing?
How do you think about the evidence that could change tomorrow’s plans?
refer to
- Black, P. and Wiliam, D. (1998). Assessment and classroom learning. Educational Assessment5 (1), 7-74.
- Hattie, J. (2008). Visible learning. Routledge.
- Nicol, DJ and Macfarlane-Dick, D. (2006). Formative assessment and self-regulation learning. Higher Education Research31 (2), 199–218.
- Sadler, Ph.D. (1989). Formative assessment and design of teaching systems. Teaching Science18, 119–144.
- Shute, VJ (2008). Focus on formative feedback. Review of educational research78 (1), 153-189.
- Wiliam, D. (2011). Embedded formative evaluation. Solution tree.
