Diagnostic, Formative, & Summative Assessment

Universidad Nacional Autónoma de Honduras Facultad de Humanidades y Artes Departamento de Lenguas Extranjeras Carrera de Lenguas Extranjeras Didactics Workshop II

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Nelson Eduardo Corea

Diagnostic, Formative, & Summative Assessment

Diagnostic assessment

"Diagnostic assessment is today's means of understanding how to modify tomorrow's instruction" (Timilinson, 1999, p.10)

Diagnostic assessment can help identify students’ current knowledge of a subject, their skill sets and capabilities, and to clarify misconceptions before teaching takes place. Knowing students’ strengths and weaknesses can help teachers plan what to teach and how to teach it. (Northern Illinois University, Faculty Development and Instructional Design Centre)

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Formative assessment

The iterative nature of formative assessment provides opportunities to develop more nuanced views about how students learn and adapt. Formative assessment provides feedback and information during the instructional process, while learning is taking place. A primary focus of formative assessment is to identify areas that may need improvement. (Northern Illinois University, Faculty Development and Instructional Design Centre)

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Summative assessment

Summative assessment is assessment that is used to signify competence or that contributes to a student’s grade in a course, module, level or degree. Summative assessments are useful tools for reporting student progress to parents, school authorities and outside authorities such as tertiary institutions. Grades are usually an outcome of summative assessment. Grades indicate whether the student has a satisfactory level of knowledge or skill gain – Is the student able to effectively progress to the next part of the class? To the next course in the curriculum? To the next level of academic standing? (O’Farrell, 2013 – Dublin Institute of Technology)

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Decide on a Rating Scale

Rating scales turn the grading criteria you have defined into levels of performance expectations for the students that can then be interpreted as a letter, number, or level. Common rating scales include

• A, B, C, etc. (without or without + and -)
• 100 point scale with defined cut-off for a letter grade if desired (ex. a B = 89-80; or a B+ = 89-87, B = 86-83, B- = 82-80)
• Yes or no, present or not present (if the rubric is a checklist of items students must show)
• A three or five category holistic scale, such as

1. below expectations, meets expectations, exceeds expectations
2. not demonstrated, poor, average, good, excellent

Developing Your Assessment Criteria

Clear and easy to understand as a guide for students. Attainable rather than beyond students’ grasp in the current place in the course. Significant in terms of the learning students should demonstrate. Relevant in that they assess student learning toward course objectives related to that one assessment.

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Create the Rubric

Rubrics Can Make Grading More Effective

• Provide students with more complete and targeted feedback
• Make grading more timely by enabling the provision of feedback soon after assignment is submitted/presented.
• Standardize assessment criteria among those assigning/assessing the same assignment.
• Facilitate peer evaluation of early drafts of assignment.

Create the Rubric

Rubrics Can Help Student Learning

• Convey your expectations about the assignment through a classroom discussion of the rubric prior to the beginning of the assignment
• Level the playing field by clarifying academic expectations and assignments so that all students understand regardless of their educational backgrounds.(e.g. define what we expect analysis, critical thinking, or even introductions/conclusions should include)
• Promote student independence and motivation by enabling self-assessment
• Prepare students to use detailed feedback.

Create the Rubric

Rubrics Have Other Uses:

• Track development of student skills over several assignments
• Facilitate communication with others (e.g. TAs, communication center, tutors, other faculty, etc)
• Refine own teaching skills (e.g. by responding to common areas of weaknesses, feedback on how well teaching strategies are working in preparing students for their assignments).

Thanks!

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