Formative Assessments

In all courses, it’s important to provide frequent formative assessments, or low-stakes or no-stakes assessments. Formative assessments are key to a successful assessment strategy. Here are some of their benefits:

• Formative assessments offer ongoing feedback to help students know when and how to get help.
• Formative assessments encourage student metacognition and a growth mindset.
• Formative assessments provide instructors data that can inform efficient, just-in-time communications or changes in instructional methods.
• Students’ performance on formative assessment can inform changes in the course for the following semester.
• Formative assessments increase the likelihood of success on larger, summative assessments. Without formative assessments, students might only have [a] chance for feedback, and zero chances to respond to it. This separates assessment from the learning process. Strategically integrated formative assessments can “chunk” or “scaffold” summative assessments. Chunking or scaffolding assignments allows students to turn in portions of the assignment along the way as they build toward a complete piece. Since students receive feedback as they go, students are less likely to turn in final assignments that are way off track.