Back to the Basics - Assessments

In this episode, Rob and Jared continue the series on the basics of education by discussing assessments, using their road trip analogy once more to explain the differences between formative and summative assessments. Contact us at [email protected] with any questions. You can also visit our blog at cedarville.edu/focusblog for additional resources. We would love to get your feedback! Please fill out our survey to help improve our podcast and serve you better.

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 grade. With proper and timely feedback from the instructor, formative assessments give the opportunity for students to be redirected.

Resources 

Summative and Formative Assessment - CTL Indiana University Bloomington 

Assessment 101: Formative and Summative - CCAC 

Assessment and Grading (Evaluation) - J. Lenore Wright, Baylor University
Be on the look out for Jared’s future blog post!