Assessing Student Learning

K-12 teachers are trained in learning the difference between formative and summative assessments, but college instructors most often are not.

Understanding the difference between them, and knowing when and how to use formative assessments and when and how to use summative assessments, will help adjunct instructors to develop and design their courses.

So what is the difference between formative and summative assessment?

Formative assessment is an assessment that determines how much students already know, and if they possess mastery of the content matter. Examples of formative assessments might be a pre-test, rough draft, quizzes, homework, rough drafts of papers, or answering questions in class.
Information gathered from these assignments will provide insights as to how much students already know, and how well they can articulate what they know.

Formative assessments help instructors learn what needs to be taught.
Summative assessments are intended to determine how much, and to what extent, students have learned and mastered the content.

Summative assessments include final projects (be sure to use rubrics), final exam, final test over a unit of learning, portfolio, or final paper.

Summative assessment scores/ grades also help to provide information about the effectiveness of the curriculum, and the extent to which the curriculum is aligned with instruction and assessment. Wise instructors pay attention to summative assessments and make instructional adjustments during the teaching/ learning process.