Distinguishing Between Formative and Summative Assessments

What are assessments?

Assessments fall into two main categories:

• Formative assessment - Describe tasks or skills that are in-process or being formed.
• Summative assessment - Evaluate the total of skills or comprehension achieved.

Both formative and summative assessments show how well students have learned. They also give useful information to both students and instructors. You can use both types together to support learning over time.

It can be difficult to decide when and how to grade interactive learning activities. Instructors want students to feel comfortable and interested during class, without worrying too much about grades. But at the same time, we also want students to take interactive learning activities seriously and learn as much as possible from each activity.

Prof. M might begin by making a list of the online and in-class activities she plans to use. She can sort each activity into either formative or summative assessment. In some cases, the same activity can be used as both a formative and a summative assessment, depending on when it is used in the lesson plan.

For example:

• Using an online debate tool like Kialo can help students research and build their arguments as a low-stakes formative assessment.
• Later, students take part in a team-based in-class debate, which serves as a high-stakes summative assessment.
• Similarly, an in-class discussion that is not graded can help prepare students for a graded online competition in Kialo.

Examples of low-stakes grading for formative assessments include:

• Observing student participation.
• Collecting short in-class writing exercises called quick-writes
• Rating posts in online discussions
• Recording the highest scores from three online quizzes.

Higher stakes grading usually requires a detailed rubric that describes the learning goals being evaluated. This is especially important for alternative assessments such as video projects, graphic novels, presentations, or portfolios. Well-constructed grading rubrics, sometimes in addition to peer review, can highlight where a project demonstrates and applies key concepts or where improvements can be made. Providing detailed instructions and feedback before, during, and after these assessments also helps students stay focused and motivated.

CITL staff can help you choose appropriate formative and summative assessments and create grading rubrics that support student participation and evaluation in interactive learning activities. These activities are designed to support both enjoyment and mastery of course content.

Examples of Formative and Summative Assessments