I understand that there are two main types of tests for learning called formative assessment and summative assessment. Formative assessment is assessment that occurs during the student’s learning process and provides the teacher with information about the student’s progress toward learning goals. Summative assessment is an assessment conducted at the end of the learning process to provide a summary of the stage so that teaching methods, learning methods, and learning objectives can be adjusted and improved in the next stage of learning.
I think formative assessment is probably a little more important for students because it looks more at the process. It is designed to capture the individual progress of each student in terms of learning goals. Teachers use formative assessment data to inform the design of instruction to better meet the learning needs of their students. Methods for conducting formative assessments include: observation, questioning, discussion, reading student learning blogs, assessing graphs drawn by students, and peer assessment.
The functions of formative assessment are: to improve student learning; to pace student learning; to reinforce student learning; and to provide feedback to the teacher.
The functions of summative assessment are: to assess students’ learning performance; to demonstrate the degree of students’ mastery of knowledge, skills and ability levels as well as the degree of meeting teaching objectives; to determine students’ starting points for learning in subsequent teaching activities; to predict the likelihood of students’ success in subsequent teaching activities; and to provide a basis for setting new teaching objectives.
To summarize, the main purpose of formative assessment is to do targeted classroom teaching, the main beneficiaries are the teachers and students in the classroom, and the ultimate goal is to develop students’ learning autonomy. Formative assessment is the evaluation of students’ learning process and results for the purpose of improving and refining teaching and learning activities during the teaching process. For example, the questions teachers ask in the classroom to get feedback on students’ learning are formative evaluation. Summative evaluation is the evaluation of students’ learning results at the end of a large learning period, a semester or a course, and is also known as summative evaluation. For example, final exams, exit exams and graduation exams are all summative evaluations.
Works Cited
Francis, T. (2005, December). British Journal of Educational Studies. Assessment: Summative and Formative: Some Theoretical Reflections, pp. 466-478.
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