Jeremy,
You you use them to drive delivery or curriculum changes?
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
The most important things to consider are what has been taught and where the student was on the diagnostic assessments.
Neer,
True, it is also a tool to determine if the course delivery is appropriate to so students can learn and meet the objectives. Sometimes not meeting objectives may fall on us.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
According to materials read in chapter 2, “Summative assessment occurs at the conclusion of a lesson, project, unit, or course.†It is an evaluative measure design to measure students’ learning relative to the objective/outcome of the course. If the objective(s) of the course are not met then a correction process is worthwhile.
Stacy,
Yes it can. How would you use it to assess the effectiveness of the course?
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
When conducting summative assessments it is important to consider the quality of work. Summative assignments can be used to assess a student's progress.
Charles,
That is right. You have to provide students the tools for learning and to feel comfortable about assessment. They should be consistent.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
Kelly,
True, we have to understand the role of assessment for the student information and for course revision.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
The summative assessments should be assessing the learning that has taken place. in today's society the learning must include self management and research. Assessing these items shows the ability to move higher on Bloom's taxonomy.
Summative assessments should also be aligned with the course objectives and expectations as well as aligned with the teaching and that has taken place. Using a multiple choice test as a summative assessment in a class that has been taught with the Socratic method may not be effective in assessing the learning that has taken place.
Charles Vakos
Hello All,
Yes, I agree on this holistic view. Summative is directly in the word itself “summaryâ€, is of course the total of the whole.
Thank you.
Kelly
Chander,
Thank you for adding the point about instructors using assessments to improve learning by making changes to teaching or curriculum. It is so important for students achieve outcomes but using assessment as quality improvement is such a smart, efficient way to keep courses on track.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
The objective of summative assessments is to assess if students have mastered the course outcomes and objectives with the grade earned used as an accountability measure reflecting their level of learning. Since these assessments occur at the conclusion of a lesson or unit, they provide can be used to identify if students need remedial help on specific topics. To make sure students are learning at all levels, instructors must design them to meet Bloom’s Revised Taxonomy criteria that span the highest level to the lowest level of learning. Making a connection between what is being assessed in the classroom to real-world applications is another important aspect of designing these summative assignments. Bottom line these assessments need to provide adequate information to guide instructors towards organizing their curricula for future courses.
Thanks
Michael,
Yes, these are great ways to use the data gathered from the summative assessment. I love that you use the term "GPS" for the course as that data can be used for that. (I may use that term). This will allow you make the adjustments in the learning.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
Ah, summative assessments, the grand finally in the classroom :), for me two important things to consider when conducting the summative assessments are, 1) Are the Learning Objectives - Course Outcomes clearly stated [For the Instructor and Students], and 2) Does everyone understand what is expected from the Learning Objectives - Course Outcomes. These things are important because they are your GPS if you will for a course. A summative assessment is your final destination but everyone needs to understand how to plug in the right information to get to your destination and often recheck (formative assessments are needed) to assure that you are still on track.
Michael
Diana,
I agree with you. How do you use that information to "close the loop"?
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
When conducting summative assessments, the two most important things to me are what the student learned when taking the course AND what areas they lacked knowledge.
Josh,
Great post! These tools all have a role in the learning process. In our culture of testing, it is easy just to depend on the end of course, high stakes testing. Although important they may not tell the whole story or provide educators with the information to change the course of learning. Diagnostics and summative assessment provide a holistic type of assessment that is "closing the loop" of learning.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
Vimlarani,
You have a very good post. I agree with you about the different types of assessment all have a purpose and must be matched with the objective(s) you want to measure. There is such a value for instructors looking at the assessment data. It is a way to review and reflect on teaching to improve learning outcomes for students.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
I think it can be really good to combine diagnostic assessments with summative assessments. Like a pre-test on the first day of the class and a post-test the last day of class. It can help the instructor maybe identify areas where students weren't remembering as much and try to improve on that in future classes. So, this wouldn't be helpful for the current student obviously, but might help future ones.
And like the lesson points out, it is important to consider those levels of learning from Bloom's Taxonomy. Summative assessments should have a range of those classifications.
The primary goal of the summative assessment is to determine student understanding and growth, and teachers use a variety of tools to do this. Paper-and-pencil tests cannot measure every skill, nor would an extended interview be helpful (or practical) to gauge all learning. They are used at the end of a unit or end of the year, used to measure growth and achievement formally (e.g., end-of-unit test). When designing an assessment it is important to understand the two main categories or types of assessment questions: objective and non-objective. At the most basic level “objective†assessment questions are items that are generally not open to interpretation (e.g. multiple choice) while “non-objective†assessment questions are more open-ended and allow greater room for interpretation (e.g. essays). Choosing the best assessment question type for a particular unit or group of students may feel complicated and overwhelming. To aide your selection of the appropriate assessment method, consider the following factors:
• Content of the unit – what exactly are you trying to assess and what questions would be best suited to measure understanding of this content?
• Efficiency – what types of assessment will simplify the creation, administration, and grading of the assessment?
• Breadth of material – how suited is the assessment to cover different quantities of material?
• Depth of knowledge – how much will your assessment reveal about student understanding/misunderstandings?
• Distorting factors – what factors might distort scores and prevent the assessment from accurately revealing student mastery (see question four below)?
All of these factors govern student performance.
