Is formative assessment an effective way to improve learning? A symposium at Experimental Biology 2008

2008 ◽  
Vol 32 (4) ◽  
pp. 337-338 ◽  
Author(s):  
William Cliff ◽  
Scott Freeman ◽  
Penelope A. Hansen ◽  
Jonathan D. Kibble ◽  
Mary Peat ◽  
...  

Formative assessment is designed to provide information about students' learning to help them and their teachers to identify deficiencies and misconceptions. It differs from summative assessment, which aims to rank students according to their achievements to determine which students pass or fail or to assign grades to students. This article reports on a symposium concerned with evidence for the effectiveness of formative assessment in improving learning. It was presented by the Teaching of Physiology Section of the American Physiological Society at the Experimental Biology Meeting of 2008.

2019 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 37
Author(s):  
Faieza Chowdhury

 In this current age of highly competitive global environment, teachers are under tremendous pressure to assess student learning in the most effective manner. Two tools that teachers commonly utilize to assess students in their classes are formative and summative assessment. In formative assessment, teachers gather data in order to improve student learning and in summative assessment they use the data to assess students’ learning at the end of a specific course of study. The scores on both types of assessment should meet the minimum standards of both reliability and validity. In this article we highlight the differences between the two forms of assessment, discuss the theories pertaining to summative and formative assessment, identify how educators at tertiary level in Bangladesh commonly utilize the two types of assessment and disclose opinions of teachers regarding whether the current assessment system is appropriate or need any further improvements. Findings from the study indicate that most teachers have an incomplete and unharmonious understanding about assessment often failing to clearly distinguish between formative and summative assessments.


2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (5) ◽  
pp. 1055
Author(s):  
Amir Mahshanian ◽  
Reihane Shoghi ◽  
Mohammad Bahrami

In this study, an attempt has been made to highlight the importance of summative assessment in conjunction with teacher-based (formative) assessment on the learning. 107 advanced EFL learners in 3 classes were selected and grouped based on the type of assessment they received. Participants in this study were given tests for two main reasons. First, a general test of proficiency was administered in order to place the learners in different proficiency levels. Second, in an attempt to compare learners’ improvement based on different types of assessment within a 4-month learning period, an achievement test of the course was given two times, as pre and post-tests. The data obtained through learners’ scores on achievement tests were analyzed and then compared using ANOVA, ANCOVA and t-test. In light of the results of this study, it can be argued that a combination of formative and summative assessments can lead to higher achievements of EFL learners than either formative or summative assessment separately.


1987 ◽  
Vol 253 (3) ◽  
pp. C349-C363 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Lieberman ◽  
S. D. Hauschka ◽  
Z. W. Hall ◽  
B. R. Eisenberg ◽  
R. Horn ◽  
...  

Summary of a symposium presented by the American Physiological Society (Cell and General Physiology Section and Muscle Group) at the 70th Annual Meeting of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology, St. Louis, Missouri, April 15, 1986, chaired by M. Lieberman and F. Fay. This symposium reflects a growing interest in seeking new technologies to study the basic physiological and biophysical properties of cardiac, smooth, and skeletal muscle cells. Recognizing that technical and analytical problems associated with multicellular preparations limit the physiological significance of many experiments, investigators have increasingly focused on efforts to isolate single, functional embryonic, and adult muscle cells. Progress in obtaining physiologically relevant preparations has been both rapid and significant even though problems regarding cell purification and viability are not fully resolved. The symposium draws attention to a broad, though incomplete, range of studies using isolated or cultured muscle cells. Based on the following reports, investigators should be convinced that a variety of experiments can be designed with preparations of isolated cells and those in tissue culture to resolve questions about fundamental physiological properties of muscle cells.


2014 ◽  
Vol 58 (1) ◽  
pp. 39-52
Author(s):  
Deborah A. Chetcuti ◽  
Michael A. Buhagiar

The research study reported in this paper explores the issues and challenges faced by teacher educators when assessing student-teachers during their field placement. The key research question is: What are the issues and challenges faced by teacher educators and university administrators in relation to the formative and summative assessment of student-teachers during their field placement in Initial Teacher Education? The research tries to address this question by drawing on qualitative data from interviews with key academics and administrators at the University of Malta. The data from the interviews suggests that finding a balance within a university setting between the formative and summative aspects of assessment can create a potential conflict. This results in teacher educators focusing more on administrative demands for accountability and standards through summative assessment (also known as ‘assessment of learning’) rather than on the learning process through formative assessment (also known as ‘assessment for learning’). The authors challenge this current view and, using examples from good practice, construct a model of assessment for the field placement that tries to improve the balance between formative and summative assessment. Key words: formative assessment, summative assessment, field placement, initial teacher education


2017 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 10-17
Author(s):  
Mohammad Ali Chughtai ◽  
Mariya Khalid ◽  
Saira Afridi ◽  
Syed Nasir Shah

OBJECTIVESTo collect information about the Perceptions of dental students regarding Formative and Summative Assessment in Sardar Begum Dental College.METHODS This cross sectional study was conducted at Sardar Begum Dental College, Peshawar. Pre validated Assessment Experience Questionnaire was used to collect information. All the students of 2nd, 3rd, 4th year BDS and House officers who have joined and continued their bachelors education at Sardar Begum Dental College and Hospital from the first year were invited to participate in this study through Convenience sampling technique after taking verbal and written consent.RESULTSOverall response rate was 29.3% in 2nd Year, 35.1% in 3rd year, 75.7% in 4th Year and 92.7% among house officers.60-70% students opined that formative assessment experiences stimulated deep learning and were useful in the preparation for summative assessment. Majority of the students were satisfied with the atmosphere, structure and conduct of summative assessment. More than 70% admitted that they learn more when preparing for summative assessment near the examination. Almost 60% prefer to have more number of SEQs by claiming that these let them apply deep learning. Despite of accepting the contents of OSCE/OSPE as of good quality, majority students from all the professional years were dissatisfied from the time allocation as well as slides and images placed in each stationCONCLUSIONStudents like formative assessment mainly because of feedback as it helps them in learning as well as preparing for summative assessment. All parts of summative assessment were more satisfactory for the students.


2017 ◽  
Vol 14 (3) ◽  
pp. 2-4
Author(s):  
Alisa Percy ◽  
◽  
Dominique Parrish ◽  

Welcome to the final edition of the Journal of University Learning and Teaching Practice for 2017. We would like to acknowledge the significant contributions of our five Associate Editors - Dr Peter Copeman, University of Canberra, Dr Jo-Anne Kelder, University of Tasmania, Dr Tracey Kuit, University of Wollongong, Dr Morag McFadyen, Robert Gordon University, and Dr Vikki Pollard, Deakin University. The first two papers in this issue focus explicitly on assessment activities. In the first paper, Houston and Thompson describe and evaluate an assessment design that aimed to integrate formative assessment with summative assessment in a capstone paramedic subject. The assessment design provided students with feedback tailored to their unique learning needs. Students perceived this assessment as valuable and effective as well as promoting their readiness to practice. In the second paper Braun compares online and in class presentation assessments exploring student perceptions and academic performance with regard to these two assessment modes. This comparison identified that there was no significant difference between the two modes and there is a suggestion that online presentations might even be favoured by students.


2017 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 16-19
Author(s):  
Nazma Begum ◽  
Sakhawat Hossain ◽  
Md Humayun Kabir Talukder

This cross sectional descriptive study was carried out to determine the students' view about the influence of formative assessment on summative assessment The study was carried out from July 2009 to June 2010 over 300 intern doctors of Medicine and Paediatrics department of two government and two private medical colleges. Data were collected through self administered questionnaire. The questionnaire included different opinion about the influence of formative assessment on summative assessment and were rated using the 5 point Likert's scale. This study revealed that feedback from formative assessment to the students is important to supplement and modify teaching by the teachers. Students' fear is for summative assessment is reduced by formative assessment Written test, VIVA/SOE and OSCE/OSPE of formative assessment greatly improves the results of summative assessment Students opined that to improve the formative assessment the number of teachers should be increased, teachers should be trained up, teachers should give more time to the students and optimum feedback should be provided to the students. Frequency of formative assessment should remain as it is. Twenty to twenty five percent marks from formative assessment should be added to the summative assessment.Bangladesh Journal of Medical Education Vol.4(1) 2013: 16-19


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