The Importance of Assessment

Assessments in education play a crucial role in measuring student achievement. They can take various forms, including traditional methods like exams and quizzes, as well as learning activities such as group projects and presentations.

Assessments serve multiple purposes, including:

• Guiding instruction
• Determining the need for reteaching, remediation, or enrichment
• Pinpointing gaps in content knowledge or understanding
• Confirming students’ comprehension of the material
• Ensuring learning outcomes are met

An instructor's choice of assessment communicates to students what they value in their course. It directs students' focus toward the key achievements necessary for success. Therefore, your assessments must align with your learning outcomes to ensure students meet the learning outcomes. 

The two main forms of assessments used during a course are formative and summative.

Formative Assessment

Formative assessment is not a single method but a collection of approaches that teachers use to evaluate student comprehension, learning needs, and academic progress in real-time throughout a unit, module, or course.

These assessments help identify areas where students are struggling, skills they find challenging, or learning standards they have not yet met. This information allows instructors to adjust course content and instructional techniques to better meet the needs of their students.

The primary goal of formative assessment is to measure a student’s understanding during instruction. During formative assessment, the instructor focuses on giving feedback and considers strategies to promote students' learning. Examples include one-minute papers, quizzes, tests, or exams.

As learning and formative assessment expert Paul Black aptly describes, “when the cook tastes the soup, that’s formative assessment. When a customer tastes the soup, that’s summative assessment.”

Summative Assessment

Summative assessment is a type of evaluation that measures a student’s overall comprehension and achievement at the end of a unit, course, or academic period. It typically takes the form of final exams or projects and aims to gauge what students have learned. Unlike formative assessment, which provides ongoing feedback, summative assessment focuses on determining the extent to which students have mastered the content. These higher-stakes types of assessments are used for accountability purposes, such as grading, ranking, and reporting student achievement to administrators.

Learn More/How To's:

• Alternative & Authentic Assessment Strategies Authentic assessments connect to students' real-life experiences and align with course goals by having students solve problems and apply knowledge meaningfully. Alternative assessments incorporate multimedia and technology to enhance motivation, creativity, and engagement while encouraging deeper learning. 
• Designing Effective Assignments - Assignments serve as a crucial connection between course materials and activities to support students in successfully achieving learning objectives. 
• Rubrics - (109465) Rubrics are evaluation tools that define assignment criteria and performance levels, providing consistent feedback while aligning with learning objectives and reducing grading time.

Tips/ best practices

• Assessing Large Class - Learn tips on how to assess large classes

• Authentic Assessment: Creating a Blueprint for Course Design - Learn about authentic 

Related Resources

• Instructional Design Services