Comparison and Contrast of Assessment and Evaluation
Assessment refers to a systematic documented process that utilizes data on students’ beliefs skills, attitude, and knowledge to establish a learning outcome. Evaluation, on the other hand, is the establishment of subjects worth using predetermined standards. The two processes share a considerable number of similarities. Nonetheless, as per the definition, there is a difference (Cheng & Chang, 2014) . This section gives an example of assessment then compares and contrast assessment and evaluation by presenting their similarities, differences with specific examples in the learning environment.
Take an example of an online language course; the website provides a set number of lessons for the learner. The lessons have been models to impart specific knowledge on the various elements of learning the language. For instance, the lessons cover aspects such as the alphabets, greeting, self-introduction, and vocabulary of body parts. Assessment in such a case involves the subjection of the learner to a procedure that determines whether they have attained the desired mastery level of the language lessons. An example includes testing the students’ mastery of the alphabets by giving tests. The result of the assessment is meant to help the students and the tutor understand the level of knowledge acquired and areas that need correction.
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The distinguishing factors of assessment and evaluation include their purpose, who requests them, the recipient of the report, the use of the report, and the use of the information obtained. The purpose of an assessment is to improve the quality of future performance. The learner establishes from the assessment report areas that have not been mastered adequately and work on future improvement. However, evaluation seeks to determine the quality of the current performance. The instructor seeks to determine the effectiveness of the current strategies used in passing knowledge and work on ways of maximizing knowledge transfer. The learner, therefore, requests the assessment whereas the instructor requests the evaluation. Similarly, the learner obtains the report of the assessment while the instructor obtains the report of an evaluation finally the report of the assessment is meant to enable the student to improve on areas that have not been masters by performing better in future assessment whereas the instructor uses the evaluation report to maximize the knowledge transfer to the learner (Cheng & Chang, 2014) .
Although assessment and evaluation have differences, they also have similarities. Their similarities include the involvement of the learner and instructor, preset rules for both procedures, involvement of feedback, and is evidence driven. In the education set up assessment is done on the learners by the instructors using predetermined assessment criteria (Secolsky, Sng, Wentland & Smith, 2016) . Evaluation, on the other hand, involves the determination of how the teaching process or the curriculum best attains the desired standards. As such measuring the level of the instructor's ability to transfer the knowledge to the learners and whether the knowledge is relevant. After an evaluation or assessment, the procedure produces reports that give feedback. Both reports are useful in enhancing the learning process. The processes are evidence-driven because they are backed up by a score. In which case, the assessment provides a grade while the evaluation gives a judgment score (Cheng & Chang, 2014) .
Formative and Summative Assessment
Summative assessment is a kind of assessment that cumulatively determines the learner’s level of knowledge, skills, and belief after a predetermined period. The assessment method varies depending on the set standard. Some of the commonly used procedure includes taking a test, observation, and oral interview. One example of a formative assessment is sitting for a written test at the end of a semester. On the other hand, formative assessment is a kind of assessment that progressively determines the level of knowledge, skills, and belief of a learner. The process involves the use of tasks, questions, and quizzes in establishing what has been learned during a teaching process then taking note of the gaps that need to be addressed. Unlike the summative assessment that takes place at the end of a predetermined period, formative assessment is continuous and take place during the learning sessions (Simon & Maskit, 2015) . An example of formative assessment includes the instructor in a mathematics class asking students to work out problems on the current topic being taught .
The similarities of summative and formative assessment are that they both provide a means of testing the learning process and provide feedback on the level of students’ knowledge in a learning process. Both summative and formative assessment processes enable the learner to determine the level of knowledge they have acquired from a learning process. The report obtains forms the feedback that advices them on the areas they need to improve (Cheng & Chang, 2014) .
There are two main differences between the summative and formative assessment processes. They differ in their point of administration and the main purpose of their administration. Formative assessment is administered during the teaching process. The assessment involves continuous evaluation of the learner’s progress. Summative assessment, on the other hand, is administered at the end of the learning block. The block varies depending on the set standard with the common standard being a chapter, semester or year. The two assessment methods differ in their purpose. Formative assessment is used to improve the student learning process. Through the evaluation of small content areas, the instructor identifies gaps in the learner’s knowledge and encourages them to improve. However, the summative assessment determines the student’s achievement at the end of a complete learning period. As such they are presented with a grade that tells their level of mastery of the taught content (Cheng & Chang, 2014) .
Teachers employ different strategies in the execution of formative assessment. Some of the common strategies include observation of students during in-class activities, giving home works, periodically asking for reflective journals on areas covered, formal and informal question and answer sessions and students feedback of their self-evaluation of progress and performance. A summative assessment is, however, executed by the administration of the final examination, asking the learners to develop a term paper, and giving them projects (Cheng & Chang, 2014) .
The two assessment process plays a crucial role in the instructional design process. Formative assessment contributes to the establishment of the learning objectives, the evaluation of the delivery process and the assessment of the learning impact. Through the feedback obtained from the formative assessment, instructors can be able to identify the various learning objective and their accomplishment. Similarly, the instructor can monitor the effectiveness of the delivery methods used and gauge their effectiveness. Finally, the results of the assessment provide a basis of evaluating the impact of the learning process. Summative assessment, on the other hand, provides a means of evaluating the impact of the learning process and the attainment of the learning objective. The two functions are obtained from the evaluation of the assessment report (Cheng & Chang, 2014) .
The two assessment methods are crucial for the teacher in enabling them to avoid or resolve issues during the delivery process. For instance, the formative assessment enables the teacher to maximize delivery techniques that suit best the learners and avoid the less effective ones. Secondly, they can monitor the progress of the learning process and consequently adjust the rate of delivery. Summative assessment, on the other hand, provides an insight of the correctness of the result obtained from the formative assessment and whether they need to be used more in the delivery process (Cheng & Chang, 2014) .
References
Cheng, Y., & Chang, H.-H. (2014). Advancing methodologies to support both summative and formative assessments .
Hanna, G. S., & Dettmer, P. A. (2004). Assessment for effective teaching: Using context-adaptive planning. Boston, MA: Pearson A&B
Secolsky, C., Sng, C., Wentland, E., & Smith, D. (2016). Assessment of Student Learning Outcomes: Evaluator and Client Communication. New Directions For Evaluation , 2016 (151), 97-107. doi: 10.1002/ev.20205
Simon, E., & Maskit, D. (2015). Assessment of Student Teaching New directions in teacher-training evaluation: Assessment Student. The International Journal Of Assessment And Evaluation , 23 (1), 27-34. doi: 10.18848/2327-7920/cgp/v23i01/58946
