An assessment is essential in the learning process as it permits both the learner and tutor to monitor their progress towards achieving the learning aims. According to Leutner et al. (2017), an assessment is a systematic basis for making inferences on the learning and progression of learners. It makes up a wide range of tools that teachers use to evaluate, measure and document, academic readiness, gaining skills, learning progression, or the various educational needs of learners. Assessments are part of every class, regardless of the unit of study, the group, or the grade level. They are various types of assessments that come in varying sizes and shapes and are used for multiple reasons. However, the differences in the types of assessments are small. This paper focuses on formative and summative assessments on how they improve learners’ progress, when and how often they are essential in the learning process.
Formative Assessment
Formative assessment aims to monitor the learner learning process by providing ongoing feedback. It is an assessment given to students to determine how well they are progressing through a unit of study (Sousa, 2015). I rely on this daily in the classroom as to how both the students and I are doing. Teachers use it to improve their teaching, and if designed appropriately, it helps the learners in identifying their areas of need and strengths. Formative assessment is also essential as it identifies the target areas and can aid a faculty in recognizing where the learners are struggling and help in coming up with problem-solving strategies (Prashanti & Ramnarayan, 2019). These assessments are generally low-stakes, depicting that they usually involve a low or no point value within a unit of study. Some examples of formative assessments request a learner to draw a concept map in class that will represent what they comprehended in a given topic or submit one or two sentences describing the focal point of a lecture and providing a research suggestion essential for initial feedback. On formative assessment, various tools exist that are critical for identifying struggles, misconceptions, and existing learning gaps and closing the gaps—for instance, I use index cards with questions and summaries. Occasionally I pass out the index cards and request the learners to write on each side with these instructions. On one side, they can write a big idea that they comprehend and jot it down as a summary statement. On the other side, they can identify something unique about that topic or a group of related concepts. Self-assessment is another essential tool in formative assessment. It is the process in which learners gather information concerning their personal learning experience. In this process, they analyze and reveal their progression in achieving their learning objectives and the strategy to be used next in their education process. Additionally, a portfolio is also an essential tool in formative assessment. A portfolio can be described as a purposeful gathering of substantial work, which is carefully selected, dated, and presented to tell the narrative of a learner’s achievement (Mtawaa, 2017). It is also concerned with the student’s advancement in levels of performance, including in subjects such as social studies, math, reading, writing, and science. A portfolio also has personal reflections in which the learner describes why they chose the piece and what it shows regarding the student’s aptitudes and skills. Formative assessments can be in terms of tests and quizzes that evaluate how a learner retains knowledge throughout a course. It is one of the most acceptable ways to increase a student’s understanding capabilities and enhance an instructor’s quality of communicating to the learners. However, an effective formative assessment is not included in most classrooms in the United States, mainly due to the tutors or instructors misunderstanding what is required (Box, 2018). There is also the concern of some teachers lacking the necessary skills to implement the formative assessment. More could be done in this area in Wisconsin in undergraduate programs, in my opinion. There are various ways in which formative assessment impacts the aspect of teaching and the student learning process. Since its beginnings, formative assessment has been advancing through approaches and policies that back particular learner needs. It has also been enhanced by the researchers working in varied language traditions, who have over the years contributed to a broad scope of literature review, which is aimed at enlarging and refining the concept. Therefore, formative assessment is in our everyday learning setting seen more of an integrated section of the learning and teaching process, rather than a separate involvement occurring after a period of lessons. Additionally, it covers questioning, structures of classroom involvements, classroom interactions, and feedback directed at aiding learners to close their pre-existing learning gaps. In turn, it helps me see how effectively or ineffectively my instruction has been. The students and teachers are also involved in the assessment procedure through peer and self-evaluation. Education policymakers can also apply data from external tests from various schools, and formatively identify necessitates and help shape the teaching strategies. The formative assessments achieve a great deal when they are utilized regularly. The regularity would be based, for example, every second Monday of the month. The vital difference is that an assessment is formative if it shapes the learners’ consequent learning and takes place. The image above illustrates the goal of formative assessment and how it can be used by both the learner and the instructor to collect information and how to effectively and efficiently meet the student's necessities. The objective is to provide access to a variety of resources and aid schools and educators to use a great quality formative assessment progression. The image also shows the strategic use of formative assessment approaches that require feedback from learners and not necessarily in a test, but rather in the learning process.
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Summative Assessment
An assessment given to students at the end of a unit of instruction to determine how well they have mastered the learning objectives (Sousa, 2015). According to Kibble (2017), summative assessments are often formally graded through high stakes, explaining why they possess a high point value. Some summative assessments include a final presentation, a midterm exam, final reports, or a final project. Information gathered through summative assessment can be used formatively when the learners or a teacher uses it to guide their teaching in other subject areas. However, when there is an overuse of summative assessment at the end of the course of study, it gives learners a grade, although it gives less feedback which will provide less development at the end of the course. End-of-unit tests, projects, or reports sum up summative assessments. In this case, an assessment reflects stated educational standards and objectives. Well-outlined and designed end-of-unit tests that will offer teachers data regarding learners. It will aid in identifying any learner who failed to achieve the aims and offers an all-inclusive indication of the various classroom instructions. Additionally, the course grades for pre-tests and post-tests, if they are based on a particular criterion, will provide data on how well a learner will or has accomplished the overall prospects for a specific program (Ridhwan, 2017). Standardized assessments are forms of summative assessments. These tests precisely reflect the content standards and state performance standards, which indicate the number of learners who are achieving the established grade-level standard. The impact of summative assessment that helps the student learning process is if the instructors use the summative evaluations for outside purposes. Learners will also benefit from summative assessment by receiving improved descriptions and illustrations, which will aid them in understanding the evaluation criteria and what is expected. Constructive and timely feedback can aid learners to respond confidently to my summative assessment of their classwork, as they can find motivation and learning during and after the assessment. When applying summative assessment techniques for external purposes other than those of the learning process, it depends on the high point value use of the outcomes. It also depends on whether the teacher leans toward improving the quality of learners' learning or maximizing their scores in particular lessons. Teachers apply summative assessment approaches in the learning process's internal purposes, such as during regular grading, which is effective for record-keeping and reporting to parents or guardians regarding their children's performance (Dolin et al., 2017). Additionally, the assessment can make informed decisions regarding choices around a learning institution and give a nonjudgmental response, motivating learners for future improvement. The use of grades as punishments or rewards impacts decreasing the learners' morale and might harm their relationship with the learning process. However, this depends on how well I will present their evaluations to them. This affects my student’s engagement to the performance and learning objectives now and in the future. Various instructors tend to differ in terms of their duties and responsibilities and the styles they use when interpreting different external evaluation criteria. Instructors who like a strong devotion to external criteria are likely to be less focused on learners as individuals. They usually classify them in clusters or categories that can influence their approach towards learning. At times, the teacher evaluation is subjected to close external control, which might get in the way of the teacher from gaining detailed knowledge of their learners. Subsequently, if teachers create assessments for internal purposes, they need opportunities that progress and shape the direction of the learning process. Sometimes, minor disagreements might occur amongst instructors regarding the urge for the utility of the summative assessments. However, these minor disagreements and debates come from and are usually due to matters to do with fairness and effectiveness, mainly when the summative evaluation outcomes are applied for high stakes reasons. Additionally, reformers, educators, and policymakers tend to discuss and argue if the valuations are being planned and used suitably or whether the high-stakes trials are either damaging or favorable to the learning process (Lopez & García, 2020). Teachers tend to benefit from occasionally being exposed to assessment approaches that require learners to think more deeply—employing effective strategies to modify summative assessment to effectively manage the change process to boost a student's learning practices. Today’s assessment practices in the summative aspect are more likely to cause a positive impact on teaching when the instructors identify ways in which the strategies aid them to learn more regarding their learners. This results in the instructors developing a clearer understanding of curricular and co-curricular objectives. The specific importance is the role that shared assessment criteria perform in a learning setting or institution (Xiao & Yang, 2019). If the strategies and criteria are implemented effectively, learners will positively influence their teaching process. Lack of shared assessment criteria creates a less positive impact on the scope of teaching and a probable negative impact on the learners.
The picture above illustrates how summative assessment strategies blended into the student learning process and how the strategies will improve the students' and teachers' experience. It shows how the strategies are first identified, structured, and then informed to the educators, policymakers, and educators. The strategies are then evaluated, communicated, and eventually, the results are reflected upon, monitored, and evaluated. However, summative and formative assessments vary in the forms of assessments across various areas such as whether verbal or nonverbal, spontaneous or planned, informal or formal, and graded or ungraded. Both are types of assessments that show the progress of a learner as well as the teacher. The two are reported differently, and their feedback varies. In the formative assessments, the feedback describes the performance and how it relates to the assigned task. The outcomes are immediate and provide information on how to improve. The summative assessment feedback takes time before being delivered, while the results are in terms of grades.
Conclusion
An assessment can be described as an act of evaluating something or someone. In educational assessment, a systematic process is used to collect reliable data on the attitudes, skills, and knowledge essential in refining the programs to improve the student learning process. However, the paper focused on the two types of assessments, formative and summative. On formative assessment, the main purpose is to monitor the learners' learning process and deliver frequent feedback to the teachers and students. Subsequently, summative assessments' main purpose is to evaluate the student learning at the end of an instructional unit, usually done by comparing against either a benchmark or standard. For an assessment to be effective and positively impact the student's learning process, the education stakeholders should use the strategies to consider various factors. In today’s learning environment, formative assessments tend to fit much better with the learners' and teachers' needs. The vital aspect of assessment practice is to understand what each type contributes to the set goals and objectives. Formative and summative assessments are present, but some teachers lack clarity around which is the most effective. However, some may lack the appropriate skills and training to implement the two types of assessments. Educational institutes would be wise to focus on this area of pedagogy.
References
Box, C. (2018). The power of formative assessment. Formative Assessment in United States Classrooms, 25-48. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-03092-6_2 Dolin, J., Black, P., Harlen, W., & Tiberghien, A. (2017). Exploring relations between formative and summative assessment. Contributions from Science Education Research, 53-80. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-63248-3_3 Kibble, J. D. (2017). Best practices in summative assessment. Advances in Physiology Education, 41(1), 110-119. https://doi.org/10.1152/advan.00116.2016 Leutner, D., Fleischer, J., Grünkorn, J., & Klieme, E. (2017). Competence assessment in education: An introduction. Methodology of Educational Measurement and Assessment, 1-6. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-50030-0_1 Lopez, A. A., & García, G. E. (2020). Teachers’ perspectives on the use of summative English language proficiency assessments for instructional purposes. Assessing English Language Proficiency in U.S. K–12 Schools, 226-244. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429491689-12 Mtawaa, J. B. (2017). The effect of portfolio-based assessment on EFL students writings and process writing. International Journal of Scientific Research and Management. https://doi.org/10.18535/ijsrm/v5i3.07 Prashanti, E., & Ramnarayan, K. (2019). Ten maxims of formative assessment. Advances in Physiology Education, 43(2), 99-102. https://doi.org/10.1152/advan.00173.2018 Ridhwan, M. (2017). Understanding formative and summative assessment for EFL teachers: Theoretical reflections on assessment for learning. J-SHMIC : Journal of English for Academic, 4(1), 40-50. https://doi.org/10.25299/jshmic.2017.vol4(1).505 Sousa, D. (2015). Brain-friendly assessments. What they Are and How We Use Them. West Palm Beach, FL: Learning Sciences International., 100-101. 9781941112212 Xiao, Y., & Yang, M. (2019). Formative assessment and self-regulated learning: How formative assessment supports students' self-regulation in English language learning. System, 81, 39-49. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.system.2019.01.004
