Assessments have been known as tools for following what and how well the students have done or what they have understood. Assessments are critical in the education process and play a vital role in evaluating students' performance. The two types of assessments in the learning process comprise the formative and summative assessment, which are the complementary tactics of assessing learners' progress. According to Dolin et al. (2017), the formative assessment can be defined as the interactive, frequent assessments of a learner's progress and comprehending to identify the various learning needs and aid the tutors to adjust teaching appropriately. On the other hand, summative assessments tend to gauge what the students have learned at the end of a unit to assess what they know and what they do not know. Assessments generally are made of a quarterly report card, images of an end-of-unit test, a letter grade, a state-level examination on elementary skills, or a complete lab report. However, these conversant features do not capture the full magnitude or subtlety of how assessments function daily in the classroom. This paper aims at analyzing formative and summative types of assessments.
Similarities
Both formative and summative assessments are methods in which to assess the performance of a student. The two have been in use over the years to tell how the student is progressing in performance. Both are opportunities to give and receive feedback. They offer precise feedback on how the learners are responding to the learning process. When used effectively, the two types of assessments will depict a clear picture of a learner's position compared with others.
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Additionally, both are ways to evaluate the effectiveness of teaching (Parkes & Zimmaro, 2017). The objective of teaching is to ensure that students effectively comprehend what is taught by the syllabus. Using formative and summative assessments, the teaching staff can gauge its effectiveness and efficacy in the learning process—subsequently, formative and summative assessments aid teachers in forecasting or planning for future lessons. Based on the students' performance, the teacher can effectively plan and expect them.
Differences
The significant difference existing among formative and summative assessment is when the evaluation takes place in the learning process. Formative assessment is more of a continuous action, as the assessment happens in the education process; it does not just occur once but on multiple occasions. In summative assessments, the evaluation only takes place once. It takes place not during the learning process but after a course unit has been completed.
Another difference is on the strategies and in acquiring the precise information about the learner. Examining the formative assessment, the teachers try to find out if a learner is doing well or requires assistance by observing the education process. This is different in summative assessment, which is concerned more with assigning ratings. The ratings tend to tell if the learner has accomplished the set goals or has not achieved them.
The purpose of formative assessment is to enhance or improve the learner's learning process. It is designed so it will have the ability to provide feedback to students before the tutor issues evaluations of performance (Bacquet, 2020). However, in summative assessments, the purpose is to evaluate the learner's achievements. It is designed in a manner that assesses the readiness for progression by offering evaluations of performance.
Formative assessment, little content areas are covered, while in summative assessment, complete chapters and content areas are covered. This is because the formative assessment focuses much on the students' strengths and weaknesses throughout the learning process. It aims at improving future performance. However, in summative assessment, the learner's overall performance is essential, such as the skills and knowledge. It tends to communicate the student's mastery of skills and material to the external stakeholders such as administrators and future potential employers.
Strengths and Limitations of Formative Assessments
One of the significant strengths of formative assessment is that it aids in providing instant feedback for teachers. It allows them to see how well the learners have grasped whatever is taught. After the teacher has seen what the learners have grasped, they can adjust their teaching strategy and curriculum. According to Morrison and Scheuermann (2017), the formative type of assessment encourages learners to participate and increases the cooperation among learners. For learners, who perform poorly, formative assessment gives the tutors a more precise and accurate scope of what they have learned, and not just what they can recount in a test. Besides, formative assessments are proficient tools essential in personalized learning.
The limitation of formative assessment is it consumes much time, more than what the teachers might have estimated. By repeatedly checking on the learner's learning process, it takes quite a lot of time to administer one test at every unit's end. The more time is taken during formative assessment, the less time taken during teaching. Subsequently, some learners do not respond well to the formative function as they tend to do with the summative function. Learners accustomed to earning grades and points might get less motivated when their achievements are not of concern or measured.
Strengths and Limitations of Summative Assessments
The summative assessment is practical for learners who are motivated by grades, and scores become of benefit compared to other students. It is mainly of benefit for the teachers because a learning group's collective grades can specify whether the teacher did the teaching effectively or ineffectively. Subsequently, summative assessments are capable of preparing learners for tests that they will require throughout their lifetime. This includes SATs and ACTs, standardized testing, and employment aptitude tests.
The main limitation of summative assessments is that it often oblige the tutors to communicate according to the assessment. With the elevation in homogenous testing, which is a requirement in many countries, testing has gained itself a bad reputation, and for good reasons. In summative assessments, learners are forced into memorizing the learning process rather than the preferable understanding of the subject at stake (McCarthy, 2020). It demotivates the learner lowering their self-esteem due to the standardized tests. Additionally, the summative assessment focuses on the result; in case of any hindrances or difficulties, the learning process at the end can seem challenging. There is little or no chance at all to recover the results in the finale.
How and When Used
Formative assessment is applied through approaches that support particular student needs. It is frequently applied to comprehend and help implement the change process in the strategies used for teaching. Teachers who apply the formative function in the assessment are better positioned to meet the different needs to be met through diversity and adaptation of the education process to elevate learner accomplishment heights and accomplish desirable impartiality for learner outcomes.
Formative assessment is used throughout the instructional or teaching period. Principles in formative assessment are used in various school and policy levels. They help in identifying areas that need improvement. Subsequently, the principles are used to stimulate effective and beneficial cultures of assessment throughout the learning systems. Arguably, the more reliable use of formative valuation throughout the learning systems might aid the stakeholders to tackle the various hurdles to its wide range of processes and practices in the classrooms.
The purpose of summative assessment is to appraise the learner education process at the conclusion of a learning unit by equating it alongside some benchmark or standard. Summative assessment is applied through exit learning products or a cumulative assessment (Mahshanian et al., 2019). It ensures that students meet the required standards to earn a certification for school completion or when entering certain occupations. It is also applied in methods or techniques for selecting learners for entry into further education.
In summative assessment, it is used at the end of the teaching duration to assess learner performance. Subsequently, agencies and sections of education utilize summative assessments and appraisals to handling publicly funded learning institutions responsible for ensuring that they offer quality and desirable education. Subsequently, global summative assessments, for instance, Program for International Student Assessment (PISA), contribute much in equating national learning systems to progression in various nations (Goldstein, 2017). Summative assessments have, over the years, been ingrained into the diverse teaching models. They are useful in evaluating how much a learner has acquired at the termination of a learning process.
Learning Outcome using Bloom's Higher-Level Verb
Bloom's higher-level order thinking verbs are usually numbered to the difficulty commencing with the most elementary. The order follows the chronological order starting from knowledge, comprehension, application, analysis, synthesis, and evaluation (Stanny, 2016). My area of educational interest and expertise will be in 8th grade English or language arts. My focus will be on speech communication. According to Bloom's higher-level verb, the specific learning outcome will be based on evaluation, where I will evaluate both the nonverbal and verbal messages for different purposes and audiences. Speech communication is an art that is not perfected by many learners and requires enthusiasm and persistent practice to master.
Formative Assessment in Assessing the Learning Outcome
By applying formative assessment in evaluating both the nonverbal and verbal messages for different purposes and audiences in speech communication, the following will be the methodology to assess this learning outcome. Using the formative principles, I will have to keep clear criteria for defining good performance in speech communication. I will provide an A-F graded paper and encourage the learners to discuss and reflect vividly on the criteria (Rattray, 2017). Holding a class-wide discussion on the performance criteria will be important and provide a post-grade peer-reviewed test set.
Secondly, I will encourage the learners to self-reflect on the appropriate verbal and nonverbal cues used by different audiences and with diverse purposes. In this case, I will ask the learners to apply the course criteria to evaluate their personal or their desk mate's work. Additionally, they will have to share feedback that they came across that was the most valuable. Also, the learners should describe their best work, which will be done through group discussion or writing.
Thirdly, I will promote positive motivational beliefs and raise their self-esteem. The learners will be motivated by giving them an example of a well-written and spoken speech, for instance, the inauguration speech of President John Kennedy. This will motivate them and assure that as a teacher, I mind their progress. I will permit for rewrites to gesture a mission intended to stimulate learning for speech communication. The rewrites might utilize low-stakes assessments that instructions will guide.
Lastly, I will gather the information that will aid in shaping the direction of my teaching strategy. I will be free to collect essential information from the learners to offer targeted instruction and feedback. The students will have the freedom to express and identify where they might have challenges which might be either the nonverbal and verbal cues or the type of audience. This can be through an assignment or test, depending on their level of understanding. The use of written submissions will promote metacognition, as I will ask learners about their learning.
Summative learning in Assessing the Learning Outcome
The following will be the summative assessment outline for evaluating both the nonverbal and verbal messages for different audiences and speech communication purposes. First, I will use a rubric or a table of specifications. The rubric will be essential in laying out the anticipated performance norms for various grades (Edwards, 2019). Subsequently, the rubric will describe what the ideal assignment or test will look like, summarizing the expected performance at the start of the term, offering learners a trial and a sense of accomplishment.
Secondly, why the use of the summative function of assessment, I will design clear, precise, and effective questions based on the nonverbal and verbal cues used in speech communication. By designing essay-like queries, I will ensure that the queries meet the criteria while allowing learners to express their knowledge creatively. I will be developing effective multiple-choice queries. This will enable the students to understand more efficiently on speech communication.
Thirdly, the summative assessment will be based upon assessing comprehensiveness. Using the summative principles, I will provide an opportunity for the learners to consider the totality of the subject's content, which will demonstrate synthesized speech communication skills and make broad connections.
Additionally, the learners will explore the more profound concepts that drive or find speech communication with straightforward content or ideas. I will ensure that I assess their understanding of the opening and closing remarks in the scope of speech communication.
My fourth strategy will be to ensure that I make the parameters clear. Upon arriving at the final assessment on verbal and nonverbal communication, I will define and assess parameters such as the different lengths of various speeches and the required depth of response. Subsequently, I will provide the date and time expectations and the essential grading standards. The evaluation assessed will relate clearly to the content that I will be cover in the course. I will be considerate of the learners with disabilities and provide a virtual space and backing. Setting clear parameters will comprehensively assess the learners of the verbal and nonverbal cues in speech communication and the purpose of the speech and the audience involved.
Finally, I will consider a blind grading based upon the principles of summative functions. I will wish to identify the work I will grade to offer the precise feedback that will say a lot about a learner's term-long trajectory. Some of the blind grading techniques in speech communication will include covering the student names before grading and shuffling the tests to minimize identifying the learners and using their identification numbers in place of their real names. However, the main aim will be to ensure that a blind grading is conducted to evaluate the learners' performance.
Conclusion
The formative assessment's main purpose is to monitor the student's learning progress and offer continuing feedback to the teaching staff and the learners. When this type of assessment is designed appropriately, it assists learners in identifying their strengths and drawbacks. Subsequently, it enables learners to improve their regulatory aptitude and manage their learning process in less haphazard design than commonly found. The primary purpose of summative assessment is to evaluate the learner's learning process, usually at the end of a unit. It is usually achieved by comparing the assessments against the standard or benchmark. Both formative and summative assessments are used to gauge the progress and performance of the student. The major difference is on time at which takes place where formative takes place through the course, while summative happens at the end of the course. By applying Bloom's higher-order thinking verbs, a teacher can evaluate the learners utilizing either the formative or summative assessment technique.
References
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