Transform Your Teaching: Back to the Basics – Assessments

Reading Time: 2 minutes

In this episode, Rob and Jared continue the series on the basics of education by discussing assessments. Check out this episode to hear them use their road trip analogy once more to explain the differences between formative and summative assessments.

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Show notes

In this episode, Rob and Jared discuss how objectives relate to assessments, including four important terms.  

• Summative assessment: bigger, high-stakes assessments that occur at the end of a unit or at a pivotal moment of the course, such as a midterm or final.  
• Formative assessment: smaller, low-stakes assessments that happen along the path toward the summative assessment. 
• Course objectives: The end-of-course targets that instructor and students aim to hit at the end of the course. Most of the time, students will show mastery of course objectives through summative assessments. 
• Module objectives: The smaller objectives that serve as steppingstones toward mastering the course objectives. Module objectives are usually tied to formative assessments. They are never tied to summative assessments.  

All four terms work together to create a properly aligned course structure. A good assessment is directly tied to an objective. Consider using your objective verb in your assessment to emphasize the connection between the two.  

Formative assessments serve as opportunities for students to try, to practice, and to fail without causing too much damage to their grades. With proper and timely feedback from the instructor, formative assessments give the opportunity for students to be redirected. 

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Resources 

• Summative and Formative Assessment – CTL Indiana University Bloomington 
• Assessment 101: Formative and Summative – CCAC 
• Assessment and Grading (Evaluation) – J. Lenore Wright, Baylor University 

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