What is Formative Assessment

1.

A procedure that provides feedback about student learning in order to help improve or expand their learning. It may help students identify areas for further study or practice and also may guide the instructor’s choice of additional learning content or methods. Learn more in: Evaluation of Course Curriculum and Teaching: Guidelines for Higher Education Instructors

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Assessment activities that are designed to help the learner improve. Learn more in: Assessment and Learning: A Historical and Theoretical Discussion

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Is designed to provide ongoing feedback about student learning that can be used by instructors to improve their teaching and by students to improve their learning. Formative assessments identify student strengths and weaknesses and help instructors address those problems immediately. Learn more in: Is This Your Best Work?: Complications and Limitations of Online Instruction for High Quality Student Engagement

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Includes a variety of formal and informal assessment procedures that teachers use during the learning process with the goal of collecting data about student understanding that will allow the teacher to modify instructional activities to increase student learning. Learn more in: Do Your Classes Click?: Interactive Remotes Foster Effective Pedagogy

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Procedures used by teachers during instruction in order to modify teaching in order to improve student achievement. Learn more in: Digital Tools for Accelerating Preservice Teacher Effectiveness

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A weekly quiz that provide learners with opportunities to cooperate through discussions of a MERLO item in small groups; then make their own decisions and send their individual responses to the instructor’s computer via mobile communication devices; followed by class discussion. Learn more in: Concept Science Evidence-Based MERLO Learning Analytics

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An instructional practice of involving students in developing shared understanding of learning goals and assessment criteria, providing feedback, and changing instruction in light of feedback. Learn more in: Formative Assessment and Preservice Elementary Teachers' Mathematical Justification: Using Digital Tools for Convincing and Assessing

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The process of collecting data on students’ understanding, analyzing data, and making instructional decisions based on the data. Learn more in: The Influence of Professional Development on Primary Teachers' TPACK and Use of Formative Assessment

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A process by which teachers and students gather evidence of teaching and learning with the purpose of providing feedback and supporting student learning. Learn more in: Potentials and Challenges of a Situated Professional Development Model

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Information used to adapt teaching and learning to meet student needs during the process of instruction. Learn more in: Structuring Online Instruction by Dynamic Design, Delivery, and Assessment

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monitors student learning to provide ongoing feedback that can be used by instructors to improve their teaching and by students to improve their learning. Learn more in: Mobile Testing System for Developing Language Skills

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Formal and informal assessment methods conducted by educators concurrent with student learning used to adapt teaching and learning activities to improve student achievement. Learn more in: The Relationship Between Online Formative Assessment and State Test Scores Using Multilevel Modeling

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A measure of student learning during a learning sequence that is leveraged so that it informs both the learner (progress and where to go next) and the instructor (in where to go from here). Learn more in: Principles of Learning in the Technology-Enhanced Classroom

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“The process of seeking and interpreting evidence for making substantively grounded decisions or judgements about the product of a learning task in order to decide where the learners are in their learning, where they need to go, and how best to get there” ( Colby-Kelly &Turner, 2007 , p.11). Learn more in: The Integration of Educational Technology for Classroom-Based Formative Assessment to Empower Teaching and Learning

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It is defined as a set of formal or informal diagnostic test or assessment procedures conducted during the learning process in order to modify the lesson-plan, teaching methods and learning activities in view of improving the student attainment. Learn more in: Applications of Artificial Intelligence in Assessment for Learning in Schools

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The process or tool used to measure, evaluate, and record the difference between a student’s current state or ability and an end goal or standard. Learn more in: The Need, Use, and Future of Cognitive Diagnostic Assessments in Classroom Practice

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The collection of data before or during a program, which helps to determine the need for a program, guide the planning process, or change the program while it is ongoing. Learn more in: A Creative Approach to Assessment: Applications in Youth Spiritual Development

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On-going assessments that help to determine current status, future goals, and rate of progress. These can be student-centered and link well to the development of 21 st century skills. Learn more in: The Power of Peers: Setting a Course for 21st Century Skills in Inclusive Classrooms

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Where the focus is on feedback, noting strengths and weaknesses in the work produced, and how to improve on it (or similar products) in the future. In this context, the formative feedback is provided not to students (as per usual), but to teachers and regarding the testing instruments they produce. Learn more in: Developing Assessment Literacy Through Assessing Classroom Tests: Instruments and Procedures

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Any tasks or activity that provides information on current learning gains. Learn more in: Assessing Language in an E-Learning Environment

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Assessment of the products of ongoing learning activities that provides feedback to students on their progress towards known goals. Learn more in: Optimizing Learning Through Activities and Assessments: A TPACK-Based Online Course Design

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An assessment which uses insights about a learner's current understandings to alter the course of instruction and thus support the development of greater competence. Learn more in: The Effects of Formative Supports in Online and Face-to-Face Teacher Preparation Programs

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Methods used to conduct in-process evaluations of student comprehension, learning needs, and academic progress during a lesson, unit, or course. Learn more in: Online Instructional Practices for Racially Diverse Student Populations in United States Higher Education Institutions: Challenges and Best Practices

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The use of dialogue between students and instructors throughout the process of a student completing a task. The purpose of formative assessment is to allow students to make adjustments to their product as their understanding increases based on feedback from the instructor. Formative assessment is in contrast to summative assessment which is an end-of task form of feedback in which the comments can no longer impact the student product. Learn more in: Self-Assessment in Building Online Communities of Learning

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Is used to determine student understanding of concepts without grades, to identify misconceptions, and alter classroom instruction accordingly. Learn more in: A Formative Analysis of Interactive Classroom Communication Systems Used in Secondary School Classrooms

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A range of formal and informal assessment procedures employed by teachers during the learning process in order to modify teaching and learning activities to improve student attainment. Learn more in: PotenziaMente: A Collection of Online Games for Learning Mathematics and Enhance Thought Processes

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Assessment that allows students and teachers to measure how much the students have learned. Teacher gives feedback to students, to identify subjects where extra work is necessary. Learn more in: E-Assessment and Multiple-Choice Questions: A Literature Review

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A series of instructional procedures or assessments designed to monitor student learning and to provide ongoing feedback that can be used by instructors to improve their teaching and by students to improve their performance. Learn more in: Classroom Applications of Automated Writing Evaluation: A Qualitative Examination of Automated Feedback

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Also known as ‘assessment for learning’. It’s a holistic iterative process of establishing what, how much and how well students are learning in relation to the learning goals and expected outcomes in order to inform tailored formative feedback and support further learning. Learn more in: Towards a Theory of Formative Assessment in Online Higher Education

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It is the assessment that takes place during the learning activity and provides the instructor with information on how well the learning objectives of a given subject are being met. Learn more in: Diagnostic and Formative E-Assessment in Engineering on a Moodle-Based VLE

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Assessment whose main function is the investment of the information produced based on the collected data, in the process of teaching and learning, through regulatory mechanisms. Learn more in: E-Assessment in Portuguese Higher Education: Framework and Perceptions of Teachers and Students.

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Its purpose is to improve the quality of student learning rather than judging or grading students. For this reason, it is generally carried out during (or even at its beginning) of the learning process. Formative assessment provides diagnostic information for teachers and students to make the necessary adjustments to the teaching and learning process, including the use of alternative instructional approaches or the provision of more opportunities for practice. Learn more in: The Relationship Between Assessment and Evaluation in CSCL

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Also known as ‘assessment for learning’. It’s a holistic iterative process of establishing what, how much and how well students are learning in relation to the learning goals and expected outcomes in order to inform tailored formative feedback and support further learning. Learn more in: Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning and Assessment: A Strategy for Developing Online Learning Communities in Continuing Education

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Assessment designed to provide regular, ongoing feedback about an intervention to determine what is successful and what is unsuccessful about the intervention relative to its goals; it takes place as the intervention is taking place. Learn more in: The Open Learning Initiative, Scientifically Designed and Feedback Driven eLearning

35.

Used to monitor learning process, skill acquisition, and academic progress during an instructional period or education program. Regular feedback is supposed to help teachers improve their teaching and students improve their learning. Learn more in: Assessing Teacher Candidates' Professional Competence for Evaluating Teacher Education Programs: The Case of German-Speaking Europe

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The evaluation of knowledge development that takes place periodically while instruction is occurring and can be informally done via discussions or more formally done via quizzes. Learn more in: Assessing Collaborative Learning

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Provide an opportunity for learners to experiment in a safe environment and to identify their own level of performance and how they might improve their future performances. Learn more in: The Efficacy of Current Assessment Tools and Techniques for Assessment of Complex and Performance-Based Learning Outcomes in Online Learning

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A type of assessment in which the goal is not to score the students but to support them. For instance, by giving them detailed feedback. That way, students could progressively improve their understanding of the lesson. Learn more in: Adaptive Computer Assisted Assessment

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An assessment that is used to create change or improvement in whatever process was evaluated. Learn more in: Principles of Student Assessment in Adult Education

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A form of assessment intended to help the students improve their learning by identifying and overcoming their weaknesses, rather than to evaluate their achievement. It may be graded or not. Learn more in: Competition and Collaboration in Translation Education: The Motivational Impact of Translation Contests

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An informal assessment of student understanding often used prior to teaching. Learn more in: Mathematics Teacher Education and edTPA: Complex Assessing

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An assessment which is done during the instructional process to evaluate whether the students are learning the content. Learn more in: Best Practices for Authentic Assessments in Learner-Centered Classrooms

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Periodic measurement of a student’s growth as they progress towards mastering a mathematical skill. Learn more in: Lessons Learned from Designing and Implementing a Three-Year Professional Development Program

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Although there continue to be discussions and disagreements in the literature, formative assessment is usually taken to mean a zero-stakes assessment in which students receive feedback. Learn more in: The Effectiveness of Computer-Aided Assessment for the Purposes of a Mathematical Sciences Lecturer

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Any assessment implemented to assess students and to allow the teacher to modify his or her teaching accordingly based on the results. Learn more in: Using Mobile Technology for Formative Assessment in the Classroom

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Also known as ‘assessment for learning’. It’s a holistic iterative process of establishing what, how much and how well students are learning in relation to the learning goals and expected outcomes in order to inform tailored formative feedback and support further learning. Learn more in: Promoting Competence-Based Learning and Assessment Through Innovative Use of Electronic Portfolios

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Assessment occurring throughout the timeframe of a course which analyzes the quality of the work presented by students to determine the next steps in helping them to improve in their learning. Learn more in: Dynamic, Online, Objective Assessment for Continuous Assessment

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Tool for determining students’ knowledge and understanding of the lesson objective during the lesson for the purpose of adjusting instruction as needed. Learn more in: From Point A to Point B: Using Assessments to Chart the Path of Integrated Instruction

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Where the focus is on feedback, noting strengths and weaknesses in the work produced, and how to improve on it (or similar products) in the future. In this context, the formative feedback is provided not to students (as per usual), but to teachers and regarding the testing instruments they produce. Learn more in: A Common Final Exams Project in an IEP: Rationale and Methodology

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Designed to help students to gain understanding and to develop their good learning habits. Additonally it intends to promote student attainment. Learn more in: Computer-Based Assessment

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Evaluative measures collected during an instructional program that allow for changes to be made in that program prior to the end of instructional program. Learn more in: Learning Through Projects: Comonalities Among the Project Method, Project Based Instruction and the Project Approach

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The collection of data to determine if progress is being made toward learning outcomes. If weaknesses are identified, results are used to make changes in the curriculum or in courses. Learn more in: Effects of Assessment Results on a Writing and Thinking Rubric

53.

A form of assessment intended to give students feedback on their learning progress and to give the teacher an indication of what students have mastered and areas of difficulty. Learn more in: Automated Essay Scoring Systems

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Formative assessment represents the use of evidence and data to inform teaching and learning. The seven strategies for formative assessment (Stiggins et al., 2004) aim to improve students’ self-assessment, and rely on teachers’ feedback and peer assessment and self-assessment. Three essential questions help to organize the concept: Where am I going? Where am I now? What do I need to do to get there? Formative assessment is another concept with multiple meanings, but can be understood as “encompassing all those activities undertaken by teachers, and/or by their students, which provide information to be used as feedback to modify teaching and learning activities in which they are engaged” (Black and Wiliam, 1998, p. 8). The important distinction here is between summative, grades or test scores, and formative assessment, evidence collected and used to modify instruction and learning. Learn more in: Concept Mapping and Formative Assessment: Elements Supporting Literacy and Learning