Understanding Formative Assessment
Formative assessment is an ongoing process that takes place during the learning experience. It focuses on monitoring student learning to provide ongoing feedback that can be used by instructors to improve their teaching and by students to improve their learning.
Characteristics of Formative Assessment
- Continuous:
Formative assessment occurs throughout the learning process, not just at the end. This continuous nature allows educators to gather insights and make adjustments in real time.
- Diagnostic:
It serves a diagnostic purpose, helping educators identify students' strengths and weaknesses. This information is critical in tailoring instruction to meet individual learning needs.
- Reflective:
Formative assessments encourage reflection among students, prompting them to think about their understanding and learning strategies. This reflection fosters a growth mindset and promotes self-directed learning.
Identifying the Outlier
- Summative:
This is the key characteristic that does not belong to formative assessment. Summative assessment is typically conducted at the end of an instructional period to evaluate student learning against a benchmark or standard. It is more about measuring learning outcomes rather than supporting the learning process itself.
Conclusion
In summary, formative assessment is continuous, diagnostic, and reflective. Summative assessment, however, is not a characteristic of formative assessment, as it serves a different purpose in the educational process. Understanding these distinctions is essential for effective teaching and learning strategies.