Enhancing Formative Assessment
Mental Health and Social Work Centre for Excellence in Teaching and Learning
Enhancing Pedagogic Research
Literature Review on Formative Assessment in Higher Education
Nick Gauntlett November 2007
Contents 1.
1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4
Page 3
3 3 4 4
Introduction
Background Mental Health and Social Work CETL Project Group for Enhancing Pedagogic Research Aim of the review
2.
2.1 2.2
Methodology
Sources of Data Search and Inclusion/Exclusion Criteria
5
5 5
3.
3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4
Results
What is formative assessment? What is the difference between formative assessment and summative assessment? What is the difference between formative assessment and feedback? What formative assessment models and practices are available …show more content…
The search terms used were: “FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT” “HIGHER EDUCATION” The search was also limited by date (1998-2007). The rationale for this was due to a comprehensive review paper by Black & Wiliam (1998a) identified in a preliminary Google search. The work focuses on formative assessment in the wider educational system, from primary school to university, but was felt to be directly relevant to this review and a good baseline to work from. It reviews over 250 publications, is considered a seminal paper, and has generated a considerable amount of comment and …show more content…
Basing her arguments on the work of Sadler (1989) and Scriven (1967), two innovators in the field of assessment and evaluation, Taras believes that “formative assessment is in fact summative assessment plus feedback which is used by the learner” (Taras 2005, Abstract). Her discussion on the relationship between formative and summative assessment (rather than the distinction) provides a useful discourse on how the perceived differences between the two can lead to tensions in the assessment process. She argues that they should not be viewed as separate processes (and functions) as this would create a dichotomy, and in fact this separation has been “self-destructive and self-defeating” (Taras 2005, p. 476). Taras (2005) also comments on the concern that formative assessment means additional work for teachers as they have to provide both a ‘summative function’ and a ‘formative function’. She counters this with the observation: “Therefore, perhaps the most useful consequence of clarifying the relationship between SA and FA, as stated in this paper, is that teachers are no longer required to duplicate an assessment process in order to obtain the information required for both SA and FA. Most SA for formal assessment purposes requires feedback; therefore the only real
Enhancing Pedagogic Research
Literature Review on Formative Assessment in Higher Education
Nick Gauntlett November 2007
Contents 1.
1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4
Page 3
3 3 4 4
Introduction
Background Mental Health and Social Work CETL Project Group for Enhancing Pedagogic Research Aim of the review
2.
2.1 2.2
Methodology
Sources of Data Search and Inclusion/Exclusion Criteria
5
5 5
3.
3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4
Results
What is formative assessment? What is the difference between formative assessment and summative assessment? What is the difference between formative assessment and feedback? What formative assessment models and practices are available …show more content…
The search terms used were: “FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT” “HIGHER EDUCATION” The search was also limited by date (1998-2007). The rationale for this was due to a comprehensive review paper by Black & Wiliam (1998a) identified in a preliminary Google search. The work focuses on formative assessment in the wider educational system, from primary school to university, but was felt to be directly relevant to this review and a good baseline to work from. It reviews over 250 publications, is considered a seminal paper, and has generated a considerable amount of comment and …show more content…
Basing her arguments on the work of Sadler (1989) and Scriven (1967), two innovators in the field of assessment and evaluation, Taras believes that “formative assessment is in fact summative assessment plus feedback which is used by the learner” (Taras 2005, Abstract). Her discussion on the relationship between formative and summative assessment (rather than the distinction) provides a useful discourse on how the perceived differences between the two can lead to tensions in the assessment process. She argues that they should not be viewed as separate processes (and functions) as this would create a dichotomy, and in fact this separation has been “self-destructive and self-defeating” (Taras 2005, p. 476). Taras (2005) also comments on the concern that formative assessment means additional work for teachers as they have to provide both a ‘summative function’ and a ‘formative function’. She counters this with the observation: “Therefore, perhaps the most useful consequence of clarifying the relationship between SA and FA, as stated in this paper, is that teachers are no longer required to duplicate an assessment process in order to obtain the information required for both SA and FA. Most SA for formal assessment purposes requires feedback; therefore the only real