Overview

Assessments are about measuring student learning according to the learning outcomes. Traditionally, what we call "examination" is what is commonly described as summative assessment. Summative assessment is also called "high-stakes" assessment (ie high weight toward a grade). Compare this with formative assessment ("low-stakes" assessment) which is considered to be more instructive in nature, designed to help students with their learning.

Summative assessment

Summative assessments are used to evaluate student learning, skill acquisition, and academic achievement at the conclusion of a defined instructional period—typically at the end of a project, unit, course, semester, program, or school year. Generally speaking, summative assessments are defined by three major criteria:

The tests, assignments, or projects are used to determine whether students have learned what they were expected to learn. In other words, what makes an assessment “summative” is not the design of the test, assignment, or self-evaluation, per se, but the way it is used i.e., to determine whether and to what degree students have learned the material they have been taught.
Summative assessments are given at the conclusion of a specific instructional period, and therefore they are generally evaluative, rather than diagnostic i.e., they are more appropriately used to determine learning progress and achievement, evaluate the effectiveness of educational programs, measure progress toward improvement goals, or make course-placement decisions, among other possible applications.
Summative-assessment results are often recorded as scores or grades that are then factored into a student’s permanent academic record, whether they end up as letter grades on a report card or test scores used in the college-admissions process. While summative assessments are typically a major component of the grading process in most districts, schools, and courses, not all assessments considered to be summative are graded.

Formative assessment

Formative assessment refers to a wide variety of methods that teachers use to conduct in-process evaluations of student comprehension, learning needs, and academic progress during a lesson, unit, or course. Formative assessments help teachers identify concepts that students are struggling to understand, skills they are having difficulty acquiring, or learning standards they have not yet achieved so that adjustments can be made to lessons, instructional techniques, and academic support.

The general goal of formative assessment is to collect detailed information that can be used to improve instruction and student learning while it’s happening. What makes an assessment “formative” is not the design of a test, technique, or self-evaluation, per se, but the way it is used i.e., to inform in-process teaching and learning modifications.

Sustainable Assessment

In the following film (3:55 min) Professor David Boud, from the University of Wollongong, gives a summary of what he sees as the three purposes of assessment. He describes summative assessment and formative assessment but also expands on sustainable assessment that helps students to make judgements about their own work, because we need students to be able to ask themselves the question "what constitutes good work" and also answer it.
Professor Boud also talks about when these forms of assessment should take place for a student.

Rethinking Assessment | 5 Approaches To Consider In 2021

In this video, Chris Tuffnell from BLADE looks asks us to rethink assessment post Covid. He suggests that the drastic shift to emergency remote learning in 2020 has been a catalyst for reflection towards traditional approaches to learning, effective teaching and appropriate assessment. What suggestions does he make? What experience do you have of the five approaches that he mentions?

On the next page we look at how we can work with Peer-assessment and Self-assessment.