When Are We Assessing? When Are We Assessing? There are several different times in the learning process that assessment can take place. Assessments that are conducted during the learning process itself, allowing for modifications in both teaching and learning, are formative assessments. Those that occur after a learning process is complete are summative assessments. The choice of timing for assessment depends on what an instructor plans to do with the information. Summative assessments are often used simply to provide points toward a final grade and to determine the final level of student achievement. Formative assessments are used when instructors want to modify their teaching methods based on student learning, or when they want to allow students to modify their learning based on performance feedback. Formative assessment is diagnostic in nature as it provides information about student learning that can be used to adjust and improve teaching and learning to better meet the needs of students (Black and Wiliam 1998). Chickering and Gamson (1987) maintain that students need frequent opportunities to receive feedback about how well they are learning and about ways that might improve their learning. Thus, active learning that has formative assessment throughout a unit of study can provide these opportunities for feedback and enhancement of learning. Assessment is not an end, but a beginning to better instruction (Tomlinson 2007–8). Formative assessment can be achieved through observation of classroom activities such as discussions, student presentations, self- and peer-assessments, and small group work, but can also be done through pop quizzes, homework, and formal tests that are positioned within the instruction of a unit rather than at the end (Boston 2002). Obviously, formative assessment does not often occur in traditional, lecture-based teaching where communication is didactic and one-way, with little or no input from the learners. Active-learning techniques, however, provide more opportunities for formative assessment to take place as the instructor observes student performance and modifies the learning experience accordingly. For example, student preparation for a role-play exercise might involve writing a preparatory paper prior to the simulation. The instructor is able to determine from these papers whether the students have the necessary background to successfully engage in the exercise or not. If further information is needed, it can be provided in order to maximize the learning from the role-play exercise. Similarly, if an exercise extends over several days, it can be modified following each session to make sure students are achieving the identified learning objectives.
Summative assessment is conducted at certain designated times in order to determine if students have attained the intended learning objectives at the end of the unit or course (Garrison and Ehringhaus n.d.; Popham 2008). This type of assessment is most often associated with unit tests, mid-term exams, semester exams, and final presentations or projects. Unlike data from formative assessments, generally speaking, summative assessment data are not used to adjust instruction during learning. When students receive summative assessment data, it is too late to modify their learning behaviors if they are not making satisfactory progress. Summative assessments are more likely to be used to determine student scores and grades. Both formative and summative assessments can play a valuable role in the assessment of active-learning objectives. Summative assessments provide an efficient way to gain data to determine whether or not students have met course goals and achieved the learning outcomes at the conclusion of units of study and at the end of a semester. Formative assessments used during the learning process are more immediate and allow for modification of teaching and learning during the instructional process. Not only do both types of assessment data reveal information about student learning, the data also allow an instructor to productively reflect on the effectiveness of the curriculum and program including the choice of instructional active-learning strategies (Brown 2004–5; Fisher and Frey 2007). The best practice of assessment for students participating in active-learning tasks will employ both types of assessment – formative and summative.