Formative and summative assessment at course level

 

 

Reviewing or designing course-level assessment is a process of examining and refining the alignment between the course teaching activities, intended learning outcomes and assessment methods. It involves a whole-course level rationale that is integrative and proactive rather than an ‘atomised response’ to individual assessment issues (Advance HE, 2020 p.5). 

Viewing formative assessment (which evaluates student learning throughout a course) and summative assessment (which evaluates student learning against the academic standards of the course) as part of a course-level cycle enables them to be better integrated and provides students with a seamless connection between learning and assessment. 

Key considerations in any design or re-design of course-level assessment (formative and/or summative) include: 

  • Ensuring that assessment is aligned to the course’s Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs).  
  • Reviewing assessment against the Programme level Learning Outcomes (PLOs) and taking into account the wider Programme-level assessment environment. 
  • Planning formative assessments strategically to build the skills and knowledge needed for summative assessments.  
  • Focusing on formative tasks that build and test knowledge, skills or competencies and create a safe space for learning, experimentation and growth.  
  • Ensuring that formative assessments mirror elements of summative assessments, using consistent rubrics across both types of assessment, and providing specific feedback that connects current performance to summative expectations.  

Informal or formal assessments(download pdf version

Figure 1: Course-level assessment cycle  

What is formative assessment and how does it influence learning?

Formative assessment does not contribute to a student’s final mark. It can be either formal (e.g. build into the course guide, occurring in a set time and format) or informal (e.g. maybe set in a more spontaneous way, with no set expectations about timing and format). Both formal and informal formative assessments can be highly effective in preparing students for their summative assessments.   

Formative assessment enables educators to provide specific feedback tied to assessment criteria, with opportunities for students to revise or apply feedback before final submission. 

How formative assessment influences learning  

1) The timing and scale of formative assessments are critical to student learning and should be manageable for marking and feedback.   

Students experience varying assessment workloads and clusters of formal formative assessments from different courses. When setting time and format of a formal formative assessment, educators should ensure the feedback and marking workload are manageable.  

2) Interpretation of the learning evidence can help educators to strengthen the link between formative and summative assessment tasks.   

Many research studies claim that interpretation of learning evidence from the formative assessments has often been neglected by students and educators. The following clarifies how learning evidence from a formative assessment can drive learning in minor steps: 

  • Step 1: Learning objectives and summative assessment criteria should be explicit to the teachers and students. 
  • Step 2: Use formative assessment tasks to elicit learning evidence that helps teachers and students find out where students are in their learning. 
  • Step 3: Interpret learning evidence against learning objectives and criteria so that objectives and criteria are better clarified, shared and understood. 
  • Step 4: Provide feedback to students. 
  • Step 5: Create and implement follow-up activities for students to use feedback. 

 

Black, P., and D. Wiliam. 2009. Developing a theory of formative assessment. Educational Assessment, Evaluation and Accountability 21, no. 1: 5–31.   

What is summative assessment and how does it influence learning?

Summative assessment is designed to evaluate a student’s level of academic achievement against a set of academic standards in order to generate an overall indicator of students’ knowledge and abilities.  

It also enables educators to draw inferences about the learning environment (e.g., by comparing assessment outcomes against years, amongst different groups of students, in different learning environments, etc.).  

How summative assessment influences learning 

The impact of assessment upon teaching and learning has been termed ‘washback’ or ‘backwash’ (Alderson & Wall, 1993). Backwash is the impact that a test may have on learners and teachers, on educational systems, and on society at large (Hughes, 2020). For example, in a full unit course, students are asked to choose three out of eight questions to answer within a high-stakes timed exam. Four questions are based on learning from each term. None of the exam questions covers topics from both terms. This assessment structure may lead students to focus on topics from one term and completely avoid engaging with topics from another term. The backwash is that the learned curriculum was narrowed to the material that was anticipated on the test. Different variables contribute to the backwash effect in different situations.  

Taking a whole course approach to assessment helps educators to identify instructional opportunities (e.g., formative assessment activities) to mitigate negative backwash effects and achieve positive effects.

 

Alderson, J. C., & Wall, D. (1993). Does Washback Exist? Applied Linguistics, 14, 115-129. http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/applin/14.2.115   

Hughes, A., & Hughes, J. (2020). Achieving positive backwash. In Testing for Language Teachers (Cambridge Professional Learning, pp. 57-62). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. doi:10.1017/9781009024723.006