Formative Assessment

Formative assessment refers to the approaches instructors use in their classrooms to determine what students are understanding or not understanding.  It is and has always been integral to effective teaching. Christopher R. Gareis from William and Mary’s School of Education notes, “What we now call the ‘Socratic method’ essentially amounts to using questions to assess understanding, to guide learning, and ultimately, to foster critical thinking” (Gareis).  Socrates’ persistent questions represent one method of formative assessment.

Methods of formative assessment are diverse.  They include having students summarize what they learned on a 3 x 5 index card before leaving class; asking them to build or create something that shows they are able to apply what they learned; requesting them to provide feedback or respond to a question using a clicker or Twitter voting; urging students to complete a self-assessment of their work, using the same rubric or matrix that the instructor does.  The important aspect of formative assessment is that it is a way to guide instruction and provide feedback to students.  Whether it is graded or not is the prerogative of the individual instructor. 

Utica College’s physics department offers an excellent example of how formative assessment engages students, stimulates curiosity, and promotes a sense of community.  Since 2011, the department has offered a 1-credit seminar where students and faculty read a book relevant to the discipline and engage in online discussions and face-to-face conversations, the latter facilitated by students.  Faculty participate less as “experts” and more as members of a learning community, exploring themes and new ideas in collaboration with the enrolled undergraduates.  These ongoing discussions and the attendant questions and responses represent formative assessment at its finest.  In a recently published article, “A Multilevel Seminar for Physics Majors:  A Good Deal for Everyone,” the physics faculty describe how this approach to student learning has enhanced student engagement in the learning experience and resulted in student growth. 

In the MBA program, new students are required to complete a one-page essay where they analyze their reasons for pursuing an MBA degree.  Each essay is scored using the AAC & U Value Rubric for Critical Thinking.  The scored rubric is intended to provide students with feedback on their critical thinking and writing skills. It also introduces them to the expectations of graduate-level work and familiarizes them with the criteria that will be used to assess their work.  This formative assessment serves another important purpose as well:  it is used to refer students to services and resources that might be used to support them in their graduate coursework.

A faculty member in Wellness and Adventure Education brings experiential learning into his traditional classroom by using “real-world” projects and simulations.  After students engage in a group activity, they reflect on their performance, providing each other with feedback and insights.  Students reflect further in writing on the experience and what they learned both from the experience and their peers’ feedback. 

These kinds of formative assessments provide texture to the assessment narrative. So let’s hear from you.  What are you doing in your classroom or in your program to guide instruction and give students feedback on their learning?    

Works Cited

Gareis, Christopher R. "The Forgotten Art of Formative Assessment." February/March 2006. William and Mary School of Education. 23 January 2019.

L.S. Dake, J. Ribaudo, and L.H. Day. "A Multiplevel Seminar for Physics Majors: A Good Deal for Everyone." The Physics Teacher. December 2018: 630-632.