What is Formative Assessment? Examples & Ideas

Formative assessment might be very low-stakes for scholars, but this process of monitoring student learning plays an important role in monitoring overall student learning progress throughout the school year. However, if you are also looking for exclusive formative assessment examples to use in your class, that will provide you with the information you require. You have landed on the right page.

Furthermore, when it comes to analysing what students really know, this write-up is full of it. Assessing student learning and knowledge is not a new phenomenon. However, doing so can take a wide variety of different forms. We all know that homework, examinations, extracurricular activities, and quizzes are part and parcel of academic life. Therefore, no matter if you happen to be a child in the early school years or a university scholar progressing through their undergraduate program, they all have to go through these coursework tasks.

However, in this write-up, we will discuss all kinds of information, whether it is formative assessment meaning or any other. Likewise, this web blog presents all the creative examples to get a better understanding of student’s learning habits and make lessons fun.

What is Formative Assessment?

Formative assessment is a planned, ongoing method used by all scholars and teachers during learning and teaching to elicit and use proper evidence of student learning to enhance and improve student understanding of intended disciplinary learning outcomes and support students to become self-directed learners. Effective use of the formative assessment process requires students and teachers to integrate and implant the following practices in a respectful and collaborative manner.

Examples of Formative Assessment

So, with those definitions covered, it is time we look at some relevant activities and examples that educators or teachers of any institution or age can implement in their classrooms, seminar rooms, and lecture theatres. However, the beauty of these examples is that they can be run at a wide variety of points throughout a class or lecture. Therefore, some work best when included right at the start, while others can be used midway. Furthermore, as with all formative assessment meaning, these are not designed to be graded in any way and are constructed to be simple and offer a basic reading of scholars' comprehension.

1. Casual Quizzes

Casual quizzes serve as an essential tool for ongoing assessment. Furthermore, they are a simple yet powerful way to gauge students' existing knowledge and offer prompt feedback for enhanced learning. These quizzes, taking just five to ten minutes, can be conducted at the beginning or end of a class. Likewise, it focuses on a specific topic or a combination of subjects. When strategically integrated into lesson plans, they provide assessments at different intervals. Also, it promotes spaced learning and the interconnection of topics.

2. Interactive Mini Whiteboards

Mini whiteboard formative assessment offers a swift and engaging method to assess the class's understanding. Moreover, it must be followed by feedback to support learning improvement to qualify as a formative assessment. Since students' responses on mini whiteboards are not recorded, they perceive tasks as low-stakes. Likewise, it promotes a willingness to take risks and actively participate. However, teachers should be mindful of potential challenges. However, these challenges include students quickly responding based on others' answers and establishing positive classroom behaviors to address them.

3. Insightful Diagnostic Questions

Diagnostic questions and formative assessment meaning, comprising carefully prepared multiple-choice queries, are valuable resources for identifying and addressing misconceptions. Although time-consuming to formulate, they become a lasting asset in departmental teaching plans. Furthermore, by strategically choosing answer options, teachers can pinpoint specific misunderstandings and tailor their guidance to enhance learning.

4. Dual Problem Approach

The "problem pairs" process proves beneficial at the initial stages of learning, especially when introducing unique skills. This approach implicates presenting two closely related problems on the board—one for the teacher to solve and the other for students to finish. Hence, it provides a structured way to teach students through the learning process. Also, it offers clear examples for better comprehension.

5. Comment-Driven Feedback

For useful formative assessment, grades and scores are considered unnecessary. Therefore, research demonstrates that assigning grades can hinder learning improvement, as students are less likely to engage with feedback. Adopting a comment-only marking approach, where teachers deliver written feedback without numerical scores. Thus, this approach allows students to dedicate time to acting upon the feedback. However, this ensures that each piece of work becomes a valuable formative assessment example, promoting continuous learning.

What is the Dissimilarity Between Formative and Summative Assessment?

Here are the vital differences between formative and summative assessment that you must consider before working on any of these.

Formative Assessment

The essence of formative assessment lies in its purpose of continually tracking students' progress. Hence, it offers ongoing feedback that is beneficial for both instructors refining their teaching methods and students enhancing their learning. Formative assessments serve to elaborate:

• Assist students in recognising their strengths and weaknesses, pinpointing areas that require improvement.
• Enable faculty to identify student struggles promptly and address issues in a timely manner.

Typically, formative assessments carry low stakes, implying minimal or no point value.

Examples of such assessments encompass tasks like:

• Preparing a concept map in class to visually represent comprehension of a topic.
• Summarising a lecture in one or two sentences.
• Presenting a research proposal for preliminary feedback.

Summative Assessment

The core objective of summative assessment is to gauge student learning at the conclusion of an instructional unit, comparing it against predetermined standards or benchmarks.

When we talk about formative vs summative assessment, summative assessments often bear high stakes, signifying a substantial point value. Furthermore, illustrative instances of summative assessments encompass:

• Midterm examinations
• Final projects
• Written papers
• Senior recitals

While summative assessments are typically conclusive, the information derived from them can be applied formatively. Therefore, students and faculty alike can utilise this data to inform and guide their efforts in subsequent courses.

Wrapping It Up!

We hope this write-up provided you with all the valuable insights about formative assessment. We understand preparing for assessments is one of the most daunting tasks students have to undertake. However, we all know that formative assessments are usually informal evaluations that provide scholars an opportunity to pivot and improve based on the educator’s feedback and suggestions. Therefore, at the same time, it is valuable for the teacher who requires to assess student’s current knowledge and pain points in order to adjust their teaching techniques accordingly and maximise students’ chances of successfully passing the assessments that will occur at the end of the unit of work.

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